


The Boy from Ipanema

by SkarySkylar



Category: One Piece
Genre: Age Difference, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bossa Nova Club AU, Brazil! AU, Doctor! Law, Explicit Language, Luffy's Mom - Freeform, M/M, Musicians! ASL, badass moms running a music lounge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkarySkylar/pseuds/SkarySkylar
Summary: Law is a doctor on contract with CORAZON, an NGO dedicated to providing medical services to communities in need. When he gets lost on his way to the target site, he meets Luffy, the son of the owner of a financially unstable bossa nova lounge, who helps him find his path in more ways than one.///"You're not from around here."Law raised a brow, typical smirk already sliding into place. He didn't realize Strawhat had approached till the man was sitting right beside him, blinking at him like a curious bird."I'm not," Law agreed.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 33
Kudos: 136





	1. Lost in Leblon

Law found that the road was easier to walk the less he thought about it. Though he was sweaty and gross beneath the blazing sun, he thought of the chill of Quebec, how his father would welcome him home with a cup of dark coffee and a bone-crushing hug after a long day in the field. He thought of the _poutine_ at the diner down the way, and how the cheese would melt on his tongue still hot as he listened to his father rant about politics with some of regulars. How the tall man used to yelp when he tripped over thin air. The smell of burnt hair when he accidentally set himself alight when trying to light a cigarette. 

Then he thought of his father's strange, wild laugh and his chest began to hurt. It was a familiar sting. It had not faded with age. The wound was scabbed over but he could still feel it fester in a bed of pain and rot and loss. 

He decided not to think of his father anymore.

But there was only so much he could do to draw his mind back to home. Brazil was very different from Canada after all. 

The skies were brighter, for one. A stark baby blue that took in the reflection of the clear seas. Within its depths, the sun was nestled with care, unhindered by any passing white, cotton-y clouds. Its rays were so bright they were white when he glanced at it. Unrelenting in their intensity, so confident it was blinding. He envied its narcissism and the strength it found in it; pushing his own weak legs to move got more difficult by the second.

The streets were filled. Where there was no car, there were people, carrying the weight of the day on their backs, pulling time alongside them inch-by-inch as they called out to friends, bartered at street stalls, and simply enjoyed the moment. Everything seemed louder. Intense. An entire street bursting with colors and the sheer love of life. 

He was the outsider. If that wasn't apparent by his style of dress, then it would be by how he carried himself. Quiet. Conservative. Secrets close to his heart and a scalpel up his sleeve in case he ran into trouble. Suspicious of everything and everyone, an ordinary man of extraordinary circumstance, he walked through the Marvelous City with a heart sewn to his sleeve.

The locals practically skipped through the streets, confident that they knew where they were going. They shifted out of the way to avoid him, then closing ranks once more. Children yelled and laughed, bright and loud, kicking around a soccer ball through the dusty roads. Faces filled with toothy smiles and open, easy eyes followed him as he passed. Some waved it off, but others arched brows, whispering to their companions and tittering their laughter. He ignored it, refusing to feel self-conscious. 

He had enough to worry about. The dead cell phone in his pocket was like a ball and chain. Patting it absently, he gritted his teeth.

Getting lost in a foreign country definitely wasn't how he wanted to spend the first day of this new contract. He continued his pace, keeping it easy so as to not exhaust himself, fully aware that the longer he walked, the less busy the streets became till he was stepping into an area that was definitely residential.

 _"Suck up your pride,"_ He heard Corazon's voice say in his head. _"There is no shame in asking for help. The world expects it. Give people a chance and they will care for you."_

Hoisting his pack on his back, Law steeled himself and set off in the direction of loud voices, shrieked laughter and an endless stream of music. 

It was a block party. But it seemed a bit too big for that block alone. They filled the backroad. Motorbikes simply slipped through the cracks where they could, others stood off to the edge of the road, their riders joining the fray. Dancers were effortless in their quick steps, clapping out the rhythm of a fierce beat if they were alone, or twisting about with their partner if they were a pair. They were all dressed in varying degrees of formality. While some woman stepped about in heels as high as Law's hand, hair up in pins and full skirts billowing in the winds, others had stepped out in t-shirts, shorts and sandals. They were all thrown together by the music, an impromptu roadside _samba_.

At the center of it all was the band, and at the center of the band was the boy with the straw-hat.

He had his hand in a _cuíca_ , emitting the strange monkey-like sounds from the drum in time with the others. He seemed to be the youngest, and was by far the happiest one there if the smile stretched across his face meant anything. 

He was attractive, obviously recently brushed the height of manhood with a lingering boyishness hanging around his cheeks. A troublemaker if he'd ever seen one. Mischief rolled off of him in waves, sending a shiver down his spine whenever he got caught in the tide.

But when his dark eyes met Law's, he was struck with a generations-old weight, as if the man knew something he didn't, like the universe itself whispered its secrets into his ears and made him swear to keep silent, no matter how heavy the burden or serious the load. A faint pink scar formed a crescent under his left eye. As soon as Law shifted his gaze towards it, whatever darkness was in the man's gaze flashed away and they were a startling light brown again, shining with the brightness of his smile as those around him jostled him to keep the pace.

To the side, there was a man with a tan just as dark as the first. The sun's love of him was evident in the way his skin glistened under its lights rather than burned. 

(Subconsciously, Law crossed his arms to hide the irritated pink on his own skin.) 

A splattering of freckles was dusted across the man's cheeks, shifting constellations as his mouth moved. He played his little guitar, but added his voice to the medley, strong and sure over the chorus of the others. His shaggy black hair hung long in his face, eyes hidden by the brim of a strange orange cowboy hat. 

At the other side of Strawhat, was Tophat. It was an old, weathered thing, the black velvet covered with dust and patches to repair it, but it still sat tight on a head of wavy blonde, cropped just so, allowing mischievous brown eyes to shoot Law a wink as he shook his tambourine. They were others with their own instruments: drums, shakers, bells. They were all a part of the storm but those three were at the epicenter, the eye of the hurricane. 

Around the trio, dancers stepped quicker, not tarrying for conversations whispered into patient ears or to sip their drinks. That was where things were the most intense. He could feel the electricity of the energy course through his veins as he found a spot to settle and watch the stamping feet, how dust flew into the air before waving arms sifted through their currents. 

The wind did its part, carrying the song up high through the streets, an accompaniment to the tell-tale scent of saltwater and sand that meant a beach was nearby. Law took a rare moment of reprieve for his aching legs. Wiping sweat from his brow, he took a long drink of warm water from his canteen and let the players play on into the heat of the afternoon.

Eventually the song had to end. The players adjusted themselves. Strawhat got up and Cowboy shifted to take the space, already playing the chords for the new song before letting his voice carry in,

_"Ela é amiga da minha mulher_

_Pois é pois é_

_Mas vive dando em cima de mim_

_Enfim enfim_

_Ainda por cima é uma tremenda gata_

_Pra piorar a minha situação_

_Se fosse mulher feia tava tudo certo_

_Mulher bonita mexe com meu coração"_

"You're not from around here." 

Law raised a brow, typical smirk already sliding into place. He didn't realize Strawhat had approached till the man was sitting right beside him, blinking at him like a curious bird.

"I'm not," Law agreed. Strawhat clicked his tongue, let out a long _"Hmmmmm."_ then looked out to the party, a fond expression permanently affixed to his face. He gave a laugh when a strange bulky man with stark blue hair dropped his tambourine and the other musicians collectively shot him a glare so intense he cowered, even with his size working in his favor. 

"Not many tourists end up in this part of _Leblon."_ His voice was a lazy drawl, curious but at once indifferent, holding each vowel in an easy caress. _"_ You're getting close to the hills you know? _"_

Ah, so that's where he was. 

"I'm...a little lost." He admitted lowly. Strawhat inclined his head as if to say 'I know'. They were silent once more, but the air held no tension. It was easily filled with the strum of a guitar, Cowboy's singing and the sound of black-haired woman's clapping to the beat as her feet moved faster than Law's eyes could keep up.

"My mother can help you," Strawhat said eventually. His eyes were still on the crowd. He had a nice jawline, unblemished and baby-smooth, the closest shave Law had ever seen. "She knows _all_ of Brazil. She runs a club not too far from here."

Law accepted the help, because he truly had no choice. He was a foreigner with no phone in a town on the coastline when he wanted to be further inland. Even if Strawhat was some kind of crook, he was sure he could take him in a fight. Law was lean and fit where the other man was only gangly; his noodle like limbs hung in the casual stance of someone who'd rather handle an instrument than a blade.

Which is how he found himself following a stranger through the backstreets of a foreign country, a strange mix of fear and anticipation in his heart as he kept his eyes on the man's back, looking through every stitch in the ratty red shirt that hung from his form, completely open in the front to reveal his tawny chest to the world.

"I'm Luffy." The stranger said halfway into a story about one of his strange friends. It was so startlingly out of place that he reacted on instinct. 

"Law D Trafalgar."

Luffy scrunched his nose, mouthing the syllables before he gave up and, with a nod, settled on, "Torao."

"No, it's-."

"Anyway, so like I was saying, Zoro had gotten so lost that he was a whole two miles away from the bridge! And he was walking! Sanji was _so_ mad. I thought he was going to cancel the proposal, and we wouldn't have a wedding after all! But then Usopp got in his car and drove to get him so it all worked out. Somehow, someway, they always manage to find their way back to each other. Sanji made this cake that night that was delicious. It had chocolate-," 

By the time they reached the club, Law was ready to rip off his ears, then kill both himself and Luffy.

The kid could _talk._ He remembered how he was at 21, somber and serious and knew he must've had some bias, but _none_ of his friends had ever told stories that lasted an hour long. He knew too much about strangers he'd never met, and was sure he wouldn't be able to get any of the facts out of his head.

His only salvation was the club. It was a popular one, if the line going out the door was any indication. A smooth jazz filtered through every time the entry way opened, giving Law mere glimpses of the scene inside. 

' _Dias de Sol'_ the sign above them read in a bright pink neon. Sunny Days. Strange name for a club that was obviously a staple of night life.

Luffy strode right up to the door. He looked out of place, with his sandals, dusty jean shorts and open red shirt, but the security guard took one look at him and stepped aside.

To his horror, Law realized that he _recognized_ the short cropped green hair and stern gaze from Luffy's description. Zoro-the-lost-man gave him a look over, then opened his mouth to say something before Luffy's hand appeared from behind the door, tugging him through with a whined,

"Come on Torao!"

The crowd inside the lounge was tamer than that of the streets. The musicians on the stage played something easy to listen to, tunes that made him want to sit and sip at some whiskey rather than get up and stomp through the roads under the burning sun. Most of the place was lit up by wax candles on each table, where patrons respectfully paid attention to those up front, smoking on their pipes and whispering conversations when they could. Only a few danced in a section towards the back with a gentle sway.

The real action was by the bar. Two women stood at the middle of a crowd of men, whipping out drinks like they were machines. The first was pretty but stern-faced. A myriad of freckles was stark against the soft fawn of her skin, focused on the area around her nose, which was scrunched up as one of the patrons reached out to grab her wrist as she whisked away a bottle of whiskey. Her strawberry-blonde hair was long; he could tell by the thickness of the elaborate bun with all its fancy, ruby-encrusted pins. A large hibiscus was tucked behind her ear, threatening to tip out before the second woman took a second to adjust it. 

The second was the taller of the two. Her skin was a deep terra-cotta, undertone a delicate gold in the pale fairy lights hanging over her head. Her face was softer than the first, a wide toothy smile that looked too much like that of Law's tour guide for her identity to be anyone other than Luffy's mother.

Sure enough, when her doe-like brown eyes darted to her son, they narrowed into slits. And the cheery, pretty woman turned into a monster. Her dark curly hair rose with her rage, haloing her face like Medusa's snakes before the kill.

"Luffy! Where have you been? Do you see how packed we are? GET TO WORK!"

She threw a dishrag at him, pointing out to the tables. The man laughed as the pretty blonde shook her head. Law glanced between the two, ready to bolt when she turned her wrath onto him.

"Another one of your strays Lu? The house is full you know." 

"This is Law," Luffy said, pushing Law into the only empty bar seat. "He needs help. He's lost."

His mother looked Law up and down, arms folded as she took her time. The other woman took over the orders without a word, slipping into place with ease that Law couldn't say he felt.

Finally, when she finished, she nodded satisfactorily. "Aren't we all?" she said, cryptically. Gesturing to the drinks behind her, she asked a silent question.

"Cognac, on the rocks."

"I'm Luana," The woman said as she whipped out a glass. "As you can see, we're a bit busy now so you'll have to wait until close before I can help out."

Soon enough, he had a drink in hand, the bitter taste lingering on his tongue hardly cut by the water in the ice, and he was trying to enjoy his surroundings. The music was good, if not what he was used to. He found himself tapping his foot against the bar stool, watching not the musicians on stage, but Luffy as the man mumbled lyrics under his lips, wandering from table to table to take orders and clean up. 

The smell of tobacco seemed to be an eternal fixture, along with the smoky haze that hung low in the air. As a doctor, he cringed, but as a spectator he couldn't deny that it fit the aesthetic. An almost dreamy like vibe settled over him, lethargic and thick as the music played on.

The blonde with the tart face came to refill his glass.

"I'm Rouge," she said. "Ace's mother. I see you're watching our little Lu. You're one of his friends?"

"A total stranger," Law responded wryly. "We met in the road. He said he could help me find my way."

The woman hummed. He watched how her features softened when she watched the boy take a break to linger by the stage, clapping in time with the drummer, dishrag forgotten in his back pocket. 

"He has a knack for that. There's no one in this town that doesn't know our Lu. But, um," She cleared her throat primly, slipping on a mask of innocence. "Was he with anyone else? A boy with unruly black hair? Freckles? Strange hat? He would've been with someone blonde?"

He heard a story about this one. One of the brothers. Cowboy hat. What was his name? Spade?

"Ace," He said. "The guitarist."

Rouge's face darkened. Slamming his glass back down on the table, she muttered, "That brat's shift started an hour ago. I'll kill him. I bet Sabo was there too, huh? Ungrateful, **_lazy_ ** _sons_!"

Law was forced to wait for the rush to die down before the women gave him the time of day. He was nothing if not patient as the last couple customers straggled out. One red-haired man in particular seemed set on staying. He dropped over the bar, black coat slipping from his shoulders as he clutched the hands of one of the younger barmaids. His words slurred, so Law found the Portuguese difficult to translate, but he was reasonably sure a marriage proposal was being tossed around. The barmaid blushed a pretty red before Rouge physically intervened, pulling her away, then setting a bottle of water in front of the man.

"Sober up Shanks. We can't send you home like this."

While she dealt with that crisis, Luffy's mother came up to him for the second time that night.

"Let's do this properly this time around. I'm Luana Monkey. Luffy's mother." She said, extending a hand. Her grip was delicate, slender fingers easily encased by his own. "Where are you trying to go?'

"There's some people I need to get to. They're in _[Redacted]"_

Rouge let out a loud snort. That tart expression was back on her face, fully judgmental as she looked him up and down. 

"Why would _you_ want to go to [Redacted]?" 

He pointed at the black heart stitched onto his sleeve. 

"I'm working with the NGO CORAZON. I was supposed to meet up with someone to guide me but they never showed. I didn't have any cash on me so I couldn't call a cab. I was walking using my phone to guide me, but then it died and....well, I ended up here."

"Another foreigner here to save the country," Shanks exclaimed with a laugh. Luana shot him a warning look, which the man only smiled at. He had a wonderful set of teeth, a smile almost as wide as Luffy's as the man came bounding back to the bar, curious about all the commotion. 

"You know where that is, don't you ma? It's where you used to live, no? Grampa Garp goes to visit your Pops all the time!"

Luana froze. Rouge clapped her hands together, muttering something about airing the famiy's laundry, as the barmaid went around the counter to take Shanks by the arm, pulling him outside with a stammered, "T-Time to go."

A feeling of discomfort and otherness washed over his skin. He tried to bury it in the taste of the cognac, cautiously avoiding meeting her eyes as Luana turned to them, smile tight.

"What are you in this country to do?"

"I intend to help."

They held each other's gaze. Slowly, _surely_ , Law rolled up the hem of his shirt so she could see his skin. The tattoos covered most of it, but he knew he still had a few patches. 

The telltale stark white spots of someone dying of the incurable. They were stark even though he was as pale as he was. There was no mistaking it. The stigma of Amber Lead.

Sure enough, she straightened when she saw it. Licked her lips long and slow before worriedly biting her lip. Her eyes never left the spot where the largest of his marks showed. 

"How long?" she asked lowly, voice haunted.

"Fifteen years. I was supposed to die at 12. I didn't. I'm here to see if I can make sure others don't either."

She glanced at Luffy, then Rouge, who both feigned indifference, whistling a tune. Clutching Law in a death grip by the wrist, she pulled him close and said, in English,

_"My father. He has it. Can you help him?"_

"I'll try." he promised.

Another moment passed. Luana's eyes scanned his, searching for something he didn't know how to give. Finally, the woman nodded.

"I'll take you there in the morning," She said primly. "The roads aren't the best at night. Stay in one of the guest rooms." 

He thought it was strange that a bossa-nova club would have 'guest rooms', then the barmaid hollered out the doorway. 

"You all can come in now! Make sure you spray down with the hose!"

At her words, the entire circus started to enter. Woman and children of all ages came sauntering in. He watched two women with bright orange and light blue hair go up to Luffy, kissing him on both cheeks, before settling at a table for a chat.

The children yelled and screamed, waving their hands in the air as they surrounded a familiar face from before, who was still strumming his guitar. Rouge cleared her throat pointedly and Ace looked up, song paused at his fingertips. Looking between his mother and Luana, he raised his brows, sucked in his lips, then began to walk backwards out the door once more, playing a much more morbid song.

Sighing, Rouge plucked a child from the floor, forcing a stray cigarette butt out of his mouth. Catching his eye, she shrugged.

"We take care of our own." was the only explanation she gave, before hollering for them all to take a seat. Luana moved to crack open the windows, letting the door stay as it was while the stream of children and women thinned. Waving a table cloth in the air, she worked to get the scent of the smoke out, giving orders to each of her workers as they passed. 

Zoro, the security guard, was the last to enter. He settled in a bar stool next to Law, producing a flask from his pocket and gulping the contents down. Wordlessly, he folded his arms beneath his head and went still.

Law waited for the subtle shift of his body to confirm the man was still breathing, then began to wonder how he found himself in a place like this. Thinking the other guy had the right idea, he downed the rest of his drink, then folded his arms beneath his head.

The peace of darkness didn't last for long.

"Hey. Hey. Torao. Hey. _Hey_. _Torao._ "

"My name is Law."

Luffy grinned and completely ignored his surly tone. 

"Torao," He said, to throw salt on his wounded pride. "If you sleep, you're going to miss out on the food! Aren't you hungry?"

He was not. He was never a big-eater. Even with all the walking he did that day, he couldn't feel anything in his gut but nervousness. 

What if they thought he was dead? Would they send out someone to find him? He hoped it wasn't Penguin. The man was rather sensitive to the heat. Maybe Shachi? He wasn't much of a navigator, but if anyone had the blind luck to find Law in the middle of Rio, it would be him. Oh, he hoped those two were taking good care of Bepo. It would be hard for a dog like him in this heat, all thick white fur and no reprieve. A pang of something melancholy hit him in the ribs, digging between the bones to scratch at his heart.

A plate of meat, roasted till it was deep brown was placed before him. And though he didn't think he was hungry, one whiff of the herbs and savory spices made his stomach twinge. He looked up to find a man, wavy blonde hair tied back to bare his strange curly eyebrows to the world, smiling down at him.

"Luana says you brought Luffy back. Thanks. If he didn't come back for his shift, they would've pulled me out of the kitchen."

Law waved off his words, watching with a strange familiarity encroaching on the corners of his mind. When the blond raised his leg and slammed his foot down on the countertop by Zoro's head, startling the man out of his slumber and into a loud, screamed back-and-forth, he recognized this one to be Sanji from the story. 

In awe of such a tumultuous marriage, he stuck his fork into his meat. The first bite was a shock as his tongue curled around the meat, trying to scope out something familiar in the different palate. It was the second bite that had him groan, pepper flakes, basil and that certain smoky taste of barbecue washing through his mouth.

"Are you going to finish that?" 

He glanced over, and in the time it took him to take two bites, Luffy had finished his own plate. Sauce still lingered on his lips. A hungry look was in his eyes; Law genuinely feared for his life till Luana called over, a child hoisted in each arm.

"Give him a room, before someone else sneaks in." 

Law made as if to rush to finish his food, but his plate was empty. Not even the sauce remained, just a pure white circle. Luffy hoisted his pack over his shoulder and forced Law to follow through a curtain of beads "Employees Only" broadcasted above, into a hallway beyond. 

He got the room at the very end. Worst come to worst, there was a window that looked out into the streets that he could escape out from, but he doubted the woman would pose any threat. It was the electrical outlet that gave him the most relief though. Plugging in his adaptor, he set his phone to charge. Then he stripped off his sweat-laden shirt, baring his skin to the cool air with a shiver of relief.

A low, muffled squeak sounded out behind him. He turned to look at his guide, who leant up against the doorframe, face flushed a deep scarlet as he looked anywhere but at Law's bare chest.

_Cute._

"Thank you," he said, and though Luffy simply ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck to issue Law a silent 'goodnight', he is reminded once again of his father's words.

Give people a chance, huh?

He passed out the moment his head hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So this is a fic set in Brazil! As I'm from NYC, my knowledge of Brazil is limited to what I've researched and seen in Little Brazil, and Brazilian film/television, (especially Coisa Mais Linda the NETFLIX series which was the inspiration for this fic!) If any of you dear readers are Brazilian, please feel free to correct the mistakes I will undoubtedly make during the course of this fic or let me know if you can beta-read. (Or even take it over! I'm willing to give my outline out to a writer that'll be able to do the concept more justice!) However, this turns out, I hope you all enjoy the ride that is 'The Boy From Ipanema'!


	2. ALS

Chapter 2: ALS

Breakfast was a busy affair. He missed most of the details at dinner, but after a cold shower, a phone call to Penguin to let him know where he was, and some coffee in his gut, his eyes were opened as to what was really going on in _Dias de Sol._

He watched Luffy and his brothers kick around a soccer ball with the kids outside, laughing and yelling with the best of them as the women and Sanji handed out food inside.

There some kind of mutual aid system going on, but in a resort town like Leblon? A relatively wealthy area? He was all for charitable allocation of resources, but where the hell were these kids coming from?

He wasn't given much time to dwell on it before he was ushered inside by Sanji, who was dead-set on feeding him something other than espresso. It was still a light breakfast: a bowl of fruits carefully arranged by color. Sweet on his tongue, he took his time picking and choosing, looking around as he did so.

Luana was fiddling with one of the kids, wiping his mouth, before patting him on the back and sending him towards the door. The boy's sister caught him by the hand, then forcibly turned him around, tapping her foot expectantly.

"Thank you _Senhora_ Monkey." He recited. Satisfied, his sister took his hand again and they ran out the front door just as Luffy and his brothers came in, feet still dripping from the water of the hose.

 _(Senhora_ Monkey. That meant she was married didn't it? But Luffy's father seemed to be absent. strange.)

Rouge wasted no time in throwing a towel at Ace, who wiped down his legs at once, passing it along to his brothers. Once the boys were dry, they went to set up the lounge, arranging tables and chairs, whipping out golden tablecloths and fresh candles. Luffy was the first to wander, plucking the little guitar from the stand and trying out a few chords. Sabo tapped out a beat against the countertop while Ace hummed to the tune.

They thrived on music it seemed, finding sounds in the smallest actions and straining to turn them into a melody. Luffy's smile was wider when he played, eyes alight with the joy of creation as they produced a fast beat.

Not for the first time, Law found himself in awe of the man as he played, watching how nimble fingers skittered across the strings and wondering how they would feel on his skin.

Their mothers weren't as gleeful. Luana marched right up to the stage, curls bouncing in a pineapple-shaped bun, before snatching the guitar.

"No _samba_ in my _bossa nova_ lounge!"

"There would be no bossa nova without samba _mãe_! What're you even saying right now?"

She cut off Luffy's protest with a look. Pointing the guitar at the other two warningly, she ordered "Get back to work! And _you_!"

She looked to Law. He straightened under the intensity of her dark eyes.

"Are you ready? We'll leave as soon as Rouge finishes with Sanji."

"You're both leaving?" Ace frowned, shaking a tablecloth to get the dust off. "Who's in charge then?"

"Sabo." She answered without skipping a beat. The blonde cheered while the other two shot him glares. Luana looked ready to say more when the doors opened with a terrible crack.

A gangly man appeared with a face even tarter than Rouge's when she was in a bad mood. He had a hideous light brown bowl cut that did nothing to help his weak jawline. Dressed to the nines, in a pressed white button down, fitted black pants and fancy leather shoes that even Law doubted he could afford. As if that weren't enough, he flashed a fancy watch on his wrist, ring on each fingers like he believed himself to be a King.

Beady blue eyes looked about till they fixed on the women. Then his lips pulled into a sneer.

 _"Luana D. Monkey! Rouge D. Portgas-Gol! I come on behalf of my father!"_ His voice was a nasally, annoying whirr. He sounded like a gnat zipping by your ear, with the skin-crawling sensation of spider's legs on your arm.

Judging by the looks shared around the room, they didn't like this man very much either. Ace and Sabo cracked their knuckles, already shifting to stand in front of the women.

Rouge didn't back down.

"Stelly, we asked for an extension-,"

"Which won't protect you for long," The man said. His beady little eyes fixed onto one of the portraits hung on the wall. His sneer turned into one of disgust as wiped a finger on the glass, rubbing the dust against his thumb. "This place is a dump. As soon as you default on the upcoming payment, I'll have father turn it into an office building. Oh, you all can stay of course. We'll always need a _cleaning staff_."

"Alright, time to go."

Ace and Luffy grabbed the man by his arms, forcibly pulling him from the building as his sinister laughter rang through the air. The door slammed shut behind him. The woman shared troubled looks while Rouge rubbed Sabo's shoulders.

"Be careful, hmm?" She said to the man. "You're in charge. Keep the boys busy and make sure there's always someone standing guard besides Zoro. We don't want any of his people sneaking in."

The blonde managed a weak smile and nodded. That said, Luana snapped at Law to get his stuff and get moving, then picked her purse up from a table. Her movements had a frantic edge to them, hands shaking as went about, fiddling with candle positioning and glasses till she was finally headed out the door.

"Let's go! If we're quick, we can be back before it gets late. Usopp's coming tonight, and I want to get started on his hair early. It'll take me hours to braid all of it."

Law slung his pack over his shoulder, duffel bag in hand, and followed the woman out to her Jeep. It was an old thing, with a sputter in the engine and plumes of smoke emitting from the exhaust. She trusted it enough to get them to where they needed to go, so he didn't have any choice. Tossing his bags into the back seat, he fit himself behind the driver's seat just as Rouge came around to the passenger spot.

"Thank you again," He said, as soon as he got a chance. The woman waved him off; Rouge rolled down a window, pulling a pack of smokes from her purse.

He was going to insist, when three short raps sounded next to him. Wheeling his own window down, he glanced out to find Luffy.

"You're coming back right?" He asked. His brown eyes were narrowed, trying to deliver a pressure Law would not be subject to. Steeling the fluttering in his chest, he said,

"Maybe."

But the man only grinned wide. Taking a step back, he sent them off with a wide wave.

"See you soon!" he called out, confident and sure of his words. Before Law could ask where his surety came from, the Jeep was zipping down the road, leaving a storm of dust and smoke in its wake. Rouge's hair whipped in the wind as they rolled past the beach. The fresh vanilla scent of her conditioner mixed with the salt of the sea and the acrid bitters of her cigarette as she tapped the ash out the window.

She was silent, chain-smoking her way through half the pack in a clear sign of stress. Aa a doctor, Law should've reprimanded her. As someone indebted to her to a degree, he racked his mind for ways to distract her. He favored the calm quiet, punctured only by the low hums of the radio, over conversation. But he felt like he didn't have a choice but to break it, puncture the tension with levity.

"Your lounge is really successful," He tried. "Is it packed like that every night?"

"Every night," Luana said with a proud grin. She glanced up at him in the rearview mirror, but he couldn't see her eyes past her sunglasses. "We're one of the most successful clubs in town."

The jeep gave a jerking spurt at the end of her words. Spluttering and groaning, for a heart-wrenching second it seemed like it would stop.

Rouge cursed. Pulling out leather gloves from the glovebox, she unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned out the window to give the hood three firm poundings till the engine obeyed her demands to shut up.

"We don't live like it," she muttered as she sat back down. The woman flung the gloves back into their place, scoffing as she slammed the box shut. Luana frowned. She opened her mouth to counter that statement but Rouge wasn't finished. Grinding her cigarette out on the outer part of the door before flicking it into the wind, she continued,

"We are two _women_ who own a bossa nova lounge on the edge of _Leblon_. We're paying _school fees_ for the kids, giving them _free_ food, and absorbing the cost of every one of Shanks's _'visits_ '."

"Never seen a man that can drink so much." Luana muttered.

"And we wouldn't have to see him again, if you made my brother start paying you with money instead of stories. Isn't Luffy a bit too old for pirate tales?"

"Shanks is his favorite uncle." Luana said sternly. Rouge let out a groan, raising her hands to the sky. Her partner was not dissuaded. "We'll figure it out. I know we will. There's no choice."

Their journey continued well into that afternoon. The sun had reached it apex, light streaming through the cover of the trees as they drove up the hill, passing through rows upon rows of houses, crammed together tighter and tighter as they got closer to the jungle. wires crisscrossed overhead, a sprawling length of black that was almost web-like, stretching from rooftop to rooftop. The familiar flag of CORAZON was hoisted up over one of the buildings, through the mess of wires, yellow base with a black heart stitched into it. Sure enough, over the crowd of children and elderly that came out to see the car slow, he could spot the orange waves of Shachi's hair, combed back into a short ponytail.

His heart soared at the sight, relief at seeing a familiar face so sweet he could taste it on the back of his teeth. It was all he could do to remain patient as they parked, ready to weave through the curious eyes of the crowd.

But it wasn't him they were gathered for.

 _"Lu! Rou! Lu!"_ The children called, swarming the woman as soon as they stepped out. Luana laughed as she was nearly toppled, opening her arms to welcome them all in an embrace. Rouge wasted no time in taking her pick, scooping one of them up onto her shoulders, letting them count the freckles on her face as another young man clapped her hand in greeting.

Law watched as they made their way to one of the elders, a wizened old man with leathery tan skin and wiry hair the color of steel cropped short. He sat in an old plastic chair, face hidden under a strawhat similar to Luffy's own, only with a ribbon of blue rather than red.

"Garp," Luana greeted. "Where's my father?"

"Gone with the boy to the next town over." The man grumbled, voice raspy from sleep. He didn't shift from his position, eyes still hidden under the cap, but somehow he sensed Law enough to ask,

"Who's this then?"

"Law D. Trafalgar, sir. I'm a doctor working for CORAZON trying to combat the recent outbreak of Amber Lead Syndrome in this area-."

"Combat?" Garp asked with a low chuckle. "Or _research_?"

Law licked his lips. The man was sharp; there was no doubt. Seeing no sense in bullshitting his way out of confrontation awkwardly, he answered honestly,

"Both. If we can help you all and get enough info to prevent this from happening elsewhere, that would be ideal."

"Luffy found him," Luana chimed in, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. In a lower voice, directed at Law, she added, "This is Garp. Luffy's grandfather. Be nice to him. I'm sure Luffy wouldn't appreciate it if you two were at odds."

That got the man's attention. Tilting the strawhat to the back, dark eyes peered at him from under the rim. They held none of Luffy's boyishness, but a familiar child-like curiosity was there behind all the suspicion.

"How'd you meet him?"

"He was playing music in the middle of the street."

"That boy," the man grumbled, but there was a fondness in his tone. He left the conversation at that, tipping the strawhat back over his eyes. At once, his snores rang out through the hills.

"Captain! Captain!"

He couldn't help the small grin on his face as he was tackled. Loud barking and a rough tongue on his face let him know that Bepo was thriving despite the heat. Penguin and Shachi hoisted him into the air, repeating their chant of "Captain! Captain!"

"Capitán!" One of the kids shouted, laughing. The others were quick to join in. " _Capitán! Capitán!"_ They made a game of it, repeating it over and over, clapping out a beat and following even as his men began to tug him away.

"We thought you were dead!" Shachi wailed.

"You weren't answering your phone! The envoy we sent to pick you up misunderstood his instructions! He got your suitcases but not you!"

"I told you to learn the language before you got here," Law said pointedly at Penguin. "DenDen Translate won't help you."

They carried on, tugging him through the crowd and spilling a long series of project updates. He squirmed, wriggling in their grasps to turn and look at the two women by the jeep, sunglasses shielding their eyes as they watched him go, sundresses billowing in the faint breeze.

" _Thank you_ ," he mouthed.

They raised their cigarettes in salute. A fitting final image he would never forget.

* * *

He gave a firm tug on the bandage, patting the little girl's leg before letting her ease herself into a standing position.

"Keep pressure off of it. It's just a sprain so it won't be too long till it heals, but you shouldn't aggravate it."

The little girl nodded, brown eyes wide and her smile sweet, before lunging in to give Law a hug. He turned stiff, mildly uncomfortable as he brought a hand to pat her shoulder. Bepo the dog seemed happy to take over, barking for attention till the girl giggled and scratched behind his ears. Bepo led her out the door of Law's office, leaving him in silent peace once more.

Switching out his gloves, he returned to his research work.

ALS. Amber Lead Syndrome. Symptoms include rapid muscle atrophy, halt in melanin production manifesting in 'white spots' on the skin, respiratory issues such as but not limited to:

  * Coughing
  * Asthma Attacks if pre-disposed
  * Lung constrictions
  * Trouble breathing



Different treatments currently undergoing investigation. Most viable solution (65% success rate) has been the FLEVANCE shot, made from a bioreactor base. Shot is more effective in youths (30 & under), loses effectiveness in elderly. When faced with a patient above the age of 60, switch to second solution: Rosinante Operation.

Cause of disease: Amber Lead. Location: Unknown.

He tapped his pen against the 'w' in the unknown. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't pinpoint the exact source of the disease manifesting in Brazil. There had to be some aspect that was similar to that of another 'hotspot'. But, in his own case, his little town in the frosty snows of Ontario was responsible for the most cases in the country. There wasn't much linking Ontario to Brazil.

Flevance was relatively suburban. He didn't remember anything that differentiated them from other small towns of the country. They had the standard school, church, town hall, the amber lead mines towards the top of the hills, a golf course, hunting grounds. The neighborhoods were normal. Everyone was fine till the disease broke out in the mines.

There was nothing linking his town to this favela. The heat was scorching. The fauna was different. The way of life and the culture was completely unalike. There were no amber lead mines, which made him question whether it was the stone that started the outbreak in Flevance at all.

But they all walked around with stark white patches on their brown skin. CORAZON had barely been there two weeks and already the cots they set up were full. They were all wrapped up in work. Even Bepo was doing his part to help.

If they could cut out the cause at the root, then they wouldn't have such a huge problem. He'd hate to see another population go down from the unconquerable disease.

"Captain! Someone's here to see you!"

His first thought was the man with the strawhat. There wasn't a day that passed that he didn't think of Luffy. Oddly enough, the quiet steadiness of work didn't give him the same satisfaction it once did. Luffy may have been a chatterbox, but his music was soothing. If it could keep him active after a full day of walking in the hot sun, then he was sure it would keep him lively for a late night of research.

(He tried playing samba on his phone once. It wasn't the same. There was a certain joy in a live show. There was something missing in the notes- a distinctive laugh he wanted to hear above the melodies.)

But he knew it couldn't have been Luffy. Luana didn't seem the type to needlessly put her son at risk. Until they knew how to control this thing, the favela was definitely a high-risk location.

(Still, a small part of his heart hoped.)

"Send him in," He said flippantly.

Penguin let the door open, and two strangers walked in. The first was an elderly man in a wheelchair, frail hands folded in his lap. His hair was a dark mess of braids and loose curls, hung around his face like a little dark crown. His eyes, a brown light as oak wood, looked at Law with the same level of scrutiny, only cheerier. His grin was wide and toothy. Happy, despite the huge patches of white on all visible parts of his body. A particularly large spot hung under left eye, the shape of a crescent.

(That same small part of his heart ached.)

Behind him was a younger man. He still had a couple years, and at least two feet of height, on Law. While the other's eyes were warm, his were cold. Calculating and untrusting. His grip on the wheelchair handles was hard enough to have the knuckles turn white against the rest of his sandy complexion. A cigar hung in his mouth, unlit, tip dangling in between strands of his loose, wavy black hair.

"You the doctor?" He said around it gruffly.

"I am," Law set his pen down. Turning towards the newcomers completely, he tried to do as his father used to do. Appear open and friendly. 'Bedside manner' Corazon called it.

"I'm Crocodile. Luana's cousin. This is her father, Lucio. She says..." The man looked him over, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "She says you can help him."

Ah yes. The mysterious father who 'went to the next town over' and never came back. What a thing to do when you have a deadly disease that you certainly don't know whether or not it's contagious.

It wasn't, but that wasn't the point. It was the principle of the matter.

"I thought he was out of town for a while," Law chose his words carefully, not wanting to come across too offensive. Crocodile slipped the cigar from his lips, tucking it behind his ear.

"He was looking for someone."

"Another doctor?"

The other man's tensed.

"His son-in-law." he bit out.

Ah, family business. The mysterious _Senhor Monkey_ gone missing. He needed to back out of that one quick. Switching the topic to safer grounds, he quickly walked the two of them through what CORAZON was equipped to do, and how that could happen. Crocodile paid rapt attention, nodding along to every word till the expression of disbelief and mistrust morphed into something a little more relieved. He left the old man in their care, but not without a final word.

"I've killed men twice your size," he murmured when Law got close enough to bid him goodbye. "And Luana's father-in-law, Garp? He's a retired UPP. If my uncle dies under your care, we will find you."

With those charming final words, he lit his cigar and went on his way. Law watched him as he left, leather loafers kicking up dust in his wake.

Turning back to the man in the wheelchair, Law gave him a long look.

"Nice family you've got there."

The man only smiled that wide boyish grin. Law faltered, taking out his stethoscope, he said in loud, slow Portuguese,

"I'm going to examine you now."

Still, the man didn't respond. Assuming the best, he started the examination, speaking through each step all the while. There was no response, but he still did his best, racking his mind for any reason why the man wouldn't answer him.

"A bit of trouble with your lungs. I'll take you to Ikkaku and she'll get you set up. Since your family has helped me, I'll try and make sure I'm your primary caretaker through this process. I'll monitor your progress personally."

"He doesn't understand you."

Law didn't jump. He nearly bit through his tongue, but he didn't visibly startle at the sight of the burly Garp standing in the doorway, arms crossed. He wouldn't be surprised if he flung Penguin to the side to get in here. Even for a retired cop, the man was huge at his full height, and much too muscular for comfort.

Looking past Law, he spoke to Lucio in series of syllables and phonetics even Law, with three languages under his belt, couldn't place. The man nodded, responded in a low, chipper voice. The two went back and forth. He simply watched as they talked. The man in the wheelchair became livelier, glancing at Law every so often with that wild grin before Garp said something in a sly tone and he threw back his head to laugh out loud.

"He says he's glad you met Luffy the way you met him." Garp explained. "He says you met him as 'himself' rather than as a stranger."

He didn't have the mental facilities to decode that without another cup of coffee so rather than spend his day playing at archaeology, he asked,

"And about his treatment? Is he ready?"

"Whenever you are. He's got nothing to lose."

Garp grasped Lucio by his arm, squeezed to comfort him but the other man didn't need it. The contact seemed to more for the standing man himself than anyone else.

"You take care of him," Came the command. "We're not ready to let him go yet. There's somebody we both need to scold."

Law nodded solemnly. Taking the handles of the wheelchair, he wheeled Lucio out, leaving Garp behind, hand raised in a silent departing salute.

* * *

"We need a vacation," Shachi groaned, throwing himself over the table.

Law continued to eat as the men joined in his complaints. Three weeks in and they were making a solid headway. The CORAZON outpost was better equipped than they had been when they first started. Surgeries had just begun that last Monday, a slow but sure edging towards a higher capacity for improved performances and a greater success rate. Lucio's ROSINANTE procedure happened that morning. The man was recovering in one of the private rooms, dead to the world with a ventilator right at his bedside. He checked all the post-op boxes in terms of recovery thus far, but it was still much too soon to tell if it would have the lingering effect Law intended.

He rubbed his arm through the fabric of his sleeve, nudging the spot of white he knew rested right below the black heart.

 _"Where are all the samba girls?_ " Shachi was complaining. _"All the beautiful, Brazilian babes?"_

"You disgust me," Jean Pierre said in a smooth, perfect French. "You and your insatiable lust fill me with a great loathing."

"Calm down," Law said pointedly. "He's trying to lighten the situation."

"He's failing. I doubt the situation can even _be_ lightened. We lost a patient this morning. We should focus."

Law was aware. He was constantly aware of everyone that came and went through their care. He accepted each of them as his responsibility, along with his fellow medical staff. If Shachi wanted to cope by saying dumb shit, then he wouldn't stop him.

"Can the _Quebecois_ join us _Newfoundlanders_ in speaking English? Don't leave us out." Ikkaku said. She offered Law a wink, waving a bite of rice and beans around as the others agreed.

"Or you could just learn two languages like the rest of us." Law quipped. "You're a doctor aren't you? Surely you're smart enough."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Jean Pierre tacked on. Immediately, the table was in uproar. They split themselves down the middle, a wild cacophony sounding out as they screamed and laughed and joked. Bepo circled their feet, snapping up to lock his jaws around any scrap of meat he could.

Law cracked a rare smile. He tried to hide it in his cup of coffee, but an arm around his neck tugged him away from the rim, baring his stupid little grin for the world to see. Shachi had moved to the table, arguing about the 'Queen's English' against the unshakable Jeanne Pierre. The latter said something particularly slick that had him shake his head, a snicker slipping past his guard against his will.

There was joy among them, even in the midst of the chaos. When his father passed, this became his family. This obnoxious, boisterous bunch who worked under Rosinante's care and now, under his own.

They were annoying as hell sometimes. But he wouldn't want to go through this with anyone else.

"Guys!" Penguin broke in at a run, crashing through the door in his haste. He was wearing a double set of gloves. Some substance in an airtight baggie hung between his fingers.

Law eyed it warily, subconsciously leaning back as the man came forward.

"I've found it," he panted. "The source."

At once, they all snapped to attention. Uneasy with the audience, Penguin turned to Law instead.

"There's this **huge** boulder," He heaved, bracing himself with his hands on his knees. "On the side of the hill, right where the last of the town meets the jungle, only a little way away from the residents. I didn't think much of it till a couple of our worst kid cases started telling me this ghost story...Anyway, they all said that they used to play around this boulder before they got sick. Which is weird right? Why would a boulder make them sick? Unless it was actually cursed? But then,"

He took in a deep breath, holding out the sample as he did so. "I asked other patients. They said the same thing. Somehow someway, they've all interacted with that boulder. So I went with one of them and got a sample and it's-."

"Amber lead." Law finished, a sick feeling in his gut. The other man nodded.

"The one and only. But get this, the boulder's huge, right towards the edge of neighbourhood, in the middle of all these shanty houses. They don't have a choice but to pass by the boulder. And if they rub against it by accident and get even a shard of it on their clothes, or a kid picks up a slab thinking it's a cool rock, then they go into town-,"

"They potentially expose others. It turns into an epidemic."

Penguin nodded.

" We either have to move these people out of here, or move the boulder."

Silence. They all turned to look at one another, then at Law. He felt their expectation on his shoulders but took his time in analyzing the facts, weighing the costs and the benefits before, finally,

"Draft a statement warning people against going near that area. I'll see if I can get clearance to block it off."

Ikkaku and Shachi sprang into action, already sprinting back to base.

"And what about the people that live here?"

"I'd rather not displace a whole community for a rock." Law said. He shoved his coffee cup away, suddenly no longer thirsty. "I've got someone in mind that might be able to help."

* * *

_"No."_

"Are you saying this to be petty? I know you're on contract in Vitòria. It'll be a 9 hour trip here at most."

_"18 hours of my life total...Three days if you include the time it'll take for us to take the damn thing out safely and get some sleep. Three days of my life that I'll never get back."_

Law cradled the phone in his hand, carefully placing a fleck of the rock within another sample. Kid Eustass was an old friend and expert architect. He was often commissioned from influential individuals from around the world for his work. But, Law knew, the man enjoyed tearing things down more than putting them together.

He still only worked for the right price.

"I'll let you keep it. The amber lead. You know how expensive that material is?"

Kid snorted. " _Yeah? And deadly. Have you all made a vaccine yet? I'm not touching that shit unless I'm sure I'll make it home alive."_

"It's fine if you neutralize it with another material. There's no vaccine, but someone our age would recover with the FLEVANCE shot."

_"You got enough of those shots for fifteen men?"_

"More than enough," Law assured. They'd live. If they catch the symptoms fast enough, there won't be any trouble.

Kid wasn't the type that could think and talk so the line was quiet for a few moments.

 _"...Alright,"_ he said finally. _"But the final cut is all mine. I'll fax you a contract. I don't want any funny business when we arrive."_

Law rubbed the spots on his wrist. "I assure you I have no use for it."

That settled, they said a quick goodbye and the line went dead. Law sat back in his chair with a sigh, feeling exhausted as he usually did whenever Kid crossed his path. Letting his tweezers settle against the rim of the petri dish, he closed his eyes for just a moment, listening to the gusts of the wind blowing outside, straining to hear if it carried the sound of a street-side samba.

Perhaps Shachi was right. Maybe they did need a vacation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sure, Law. Offer Kid the rights to sell expensive material that doesn't belong to you in the first place. That definitely won't backfire! Hope you all enjoy the read! Next chapter with more LawLu coming soon!


	3. RED DOG RED

Law was back at _Dias de Sol_ one month later. He didn't know how or why. All he knew was that he was there, seated between Shachi and Penguin with a glass of whiskey in hand as they tried to chat up some girls. They were supposed to be celebrating their first successful month of the project, with some groundbreaking leads now that they had identified and isolated the 'source'. How they crammed themselves in one of the CORAZON cars and ended up back in Leblon, he didn't know. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to find out.

Still, he couldn't deny the thrill of anticipation that ran through him as they walked up that familiar street, the sound of jazz guiding them through the doors after a polite nod at Zoro.

The place hadn't changed. It was just as packed as the first night he was there. There was a new band on stage. The same blue-haired man from Luffy's little street party was playing guitar, along with a long-nosed man with a standing drum- _Usopp, his mind reminded him_ \- and a black haired woman with haunting vocals.

He watched them for a moment, tuning out his companions’ chatter in favor of the sound of her voice. Then his eyes strayed over the crowd, searching for a familiar red-ribboned strawhat in a sea of unfamiliar faces.

Rouge topped him up.

"He's not here yet." She said knowingly. "You're bit early. Those three were out again. No doubt they'll turn up late."

"Who's ' _he_ '?" Penguin whispered conspiratorially. Law tried to keep his face impassive as the two elbowed him, nudging his arms as he refused to give an answer. Rouge gave the trio a little smile, then went off to yell at Shanks, who was once again distracting their barmaid.

He lingered, unwilling to leave without getting at least once glimpse. The band on stage was good, but they didn't have him tapping his toes. He felt antsy, leaving a hand on his thigh so he could feel the rough material of the denim.

Two hours before closing, they strutted in. Ace led them, guitar strapped to his back. He didn't wait for his mother to scold him, heading straight for the stage with Sabo close behind. Luffy lingered for a bit, peering about with curious eyes. His dark gaze met Law's syrupy gold for one heart-stopping moment, and his face widened into a great grin. Law raised his hand to wave. It looked like Luffy was going to come over.

But then Sabo doubled back, grabbed his brother by the shoulders and steered him towards the stage. Luffy kept looking back. He could see his name of the man's lips, but Sabo was relentless. After one final song, the band on stage gave a bow, allowing the trio to replace them.

They spent some time setting up. Luffy had a drum in his hands while Sabo equipped himself with some shakers. Ace took his spot at the front, pushing the mic down to his face before saying,

"Hello. We're ASL. Ace. Sabo. Luffy," He pointed to each of them. "And this is our _samba_ night. If you don't like to dance, get up and leave."

Rouge let out a curse somewhere behind the bar while the boy smiled cheekily. At once, a flurry of people seemed to appear out of nowhere, grasping the tables and pulling them out of the way. Other musicians swarmed the stage with their own instruments, joining the trio as they started their song. Law held his ground as the bar was crowded. He heard orders shouted and glass sliding against the counter, but his ears were stuck on the music. Tapping his toe against the barstool, he watched as Luffy played, grinning all the while before adding his croons in background vocals.

He was distracted only when a glass was slammed in front of him. Luana stared him down, something knowing in her eyes as she slid her gaze to Luffy, then back to him. Wordlessly, she pointed her middle and index finger to her eyes then to his.

The universal _'I'm watching you.'_ signal.

Penguin laughed aloud at that as she made her way down the bar, executing orders with a terrifying precision.

"Is he the short one? He's kind of young isn't he?"

Law sat at an easy 30. 8 years wasn't too bad, was it?

"Robbing the cradle huh Doc?"

"You two are idiots." He said smoothly.

As if sensing their conversation, Luffy turned to look at their little group. His gaze was heated, thick with something Law couldn't put a name to. He looked at him like he was the only person in the room, following Law's every move whether it was the tap of his foot or how his lips met the rim of his glass. The smell of smoke and whiskey was sharp in his nose. He bore it with ease, waiting for it to fade from the center of his senses. Dancers formed a tight throng. Some got a little too close-a hand pawing at his arm here, a mouth against his ear there-but he paid them no mind, caught up in a private battle of wills.

They had to get off the stage eventually. Luffy wasted no times in gathering his brothers and striding right up to him. He was like the sun itself, bright enough to light up the room, so large and awe-strilking as he parted the crowd like Moses did the sea.

"Torao," he greeted.

"Lu." He answered in the same lofty tone. The man gave a little twitch. Eyes alight with wicked promise, his grin stretched before he ducked his head.

"I never gave you a proper intro before. These are my brothers Ace and Sabo."

Ace with the cowboy hat wasted no time in plucking Law's drink from his hand, taking the whiskey down in three quick gulps.

"So you're the one Luffy's been whining about." He said when he finished. Sabo threw an arm around his shoulder, shooting Law a pointed look.

"He hasn't stopped talking about you since you left. I don't know how you managed to give him such an impression after like 12 hours, but good on you. Please take him with you wherever you're going so we can be rid of him once and for all."

"Hey!"

"I'm afraid he can't come. Doctors need the quiet to work. I don't think he can keep silent for more than a...couple seconds maybe."

"That's it." Ace said seriously. "You understand Luffy on a deeper level than I thought."

"Ah yes. _'The Luffy'_." Penguin and Shachi pressed in close at his side. "Pleased to meet you stranger. Looks like our Captain has an interest in you."

"Let's drink," Sabo said, raising his glass with a wide grin. "To celebrate our _'mutual interests'_."

They got a table for themselves, each with a drink in hand as the final hour began. Penguin and Shachi had absolutely no qualms about trading stories from Law's past in exchange for more info on 'The Luffy'. Luana and Rouge kept a watchful eye on them, cleaning glasses and setting them away as slowly the crowd began to file out. It was an easy night, with a silent promise radiating off of the body at his side. He was working up the courage to rest his hand on top of the one next to his.

Then the door was kicked open. Police in black and blue flooded the room, batons already at the ready, forcing people out with loud shrieks as the music cut off. A man stood in the center of it all, white cap tilted low over his face. But that did nothing to hide the pure malice emanating from him. His frown was so deep it seemed permanent.

A vicious scar covered the side of his surly face, creeping from his browline to his jaw on the left side. When he looked around, his brown eyes were hard in a way that made even Law uncomfortable. Power and influence radiated off of him in waves. His own personal Chernobyl, one that Law didn't want to approach without wearing a hazmat suit and gloves. Even then, he'd avoid it if he could. But then the man looked directly at Luana and paused, like a wolf that had finally found its prey. To her credit, the woman raised her chin, refusing to be cowed into submission.

"We've heard that there's been a payment issue Mrs. Monkey."

"Officer Red Dog," The man winced. Law recognized the taunt for what it was even without the twinge of victory in the woman's smirk. "We told Stelly that-,"

"We spoke to the Silvas. They are not accepting those terms and would like to pursue legal action. Thus," He waved around, announcing with a raised voice. "We're shutting this club down _. Dias de Sol_ will not see another day."

The entire table tensed. Ace was the first to rise, a frightening scowl pulling at his face as he went to stand between the man and the bar. Luffy wasn't far behind, angling themselves between their mothers and the burly officer with a determined set to his mouth. Red Dog looked the two over, then didn't acknowledge them. He purposely directed his words to Luana.

"Dragon isn't here to protect you anymore, _Lulu_. You should start looking into other options for yourself and," He sneered, nodding his head to Luffy. "Your little _family_."

"She can handle herself. We never needed him." Luffy said.

Red Dog's eyes didn't leave Luana's as he nodded. "Isn't that exactly what I said? All those years ago?"

"Oh _shit,_ " Shachi murmured.

" _Drama_ ," Penguin whispered. Law elbowed him in his ribs. By then the few patrons still remaining were the regular crew and the CORAZON trio. Shanks, ever a permanent fixture, sat slumped over the bar, black cloak hiding the distinctive red coloring of his hair. But Law could recognize a fighter from a mile away. He saw it in the way his shoulders tensed, how he kept one arm extended, seemingly under his 'resting head', but with the forearm poised to block the officers from the barmaid in case anything went down. He couldn't see the other hand, but he wouldn't put it past him to have his fingers wrapped around the hilt of a knife.

"You can't shut down our club," Rouge said, coming out from the back. Sanji was close behind, a spatula still hot in his hand. "How're we going to eat? We need this place."

"You should've thought about that before taking a loan you couldn't pay off." He crossed his arms. "Two ladies in Leblon? Owning their own music lounge? Be happy your little dream made it this far. Maybe now you _hills folk_ will remember your place-,"

"Don't talk to my mother like that!"

"Ace!"

He watched as if it were in slow motion as Ace went in for a punch. Before it could land, a dogpile of officers was on him, batons out and battering his limbs. Luffy gave a howl of rage, leaping onto the fray and together the brothers fought against their attackers. He only saw a flurry of blonde before Sabo jumped in with a high-kick, knocking Officer Red Dog's nose with a sickening crack.

As a doctor, Law was supposed to intervene. As an....acquaintance? loyal patron? friend?, he sat back and watched the chaos unfold. He'd been in more bar fights than he could count due to his father's clumsy nature. He knew the best method was to sit back, watch and wait. If the fight came to him, then he'd defend himself.

(And, maybe, if Luffy got hurt someone would take a well-aimed bread knife to the eye ' _accidentally._ ')

But he'd never met anyone with the guts to fight cops in a bar, especially with the odds of three (oh, five...Sanji and Zoro had joined in) against a solid team of fifteen trained professionals. Their mothers were screaming at them to stop. Luana held Rouge close as the shorter woman cried and yelled at Ace to get up, to walk away.

Shanks and the barmaid were long gone.

Then one of the men aimed a heavy hit to Luffy's temple. The musician stumbled, disoriented, before crashing back. A corner of his head hit the table with a vicious thud and Law was running the symptoms of blunt force trauma before he even ran out of his seat, arms reaching out to catch the body as Luana shrieked in horror. He was still warm, fighting to get up even as Law pressed him to get on the floor. His eyes were wild, unfocused, darting every which way. Law could feel a prescence creep up on him, the clink of handcuffs, and was whipping out his ID cards before they got any funny ideas, pressing an arm against Luffy's chest to keep him down.

"My name is Law D. Water-Trafalgar. I am the Director of the Medical NGO CORAZON, United Nations Medical Expert and a Professor of International Public Health at the University of Toronto. If you touch me or my _patient_ after I've witnessed you using unnecessary force on a musician- a _civilian-_ I will bring the powers of international law down on all of you and have _every single one_ of you of accused of human rights violations. If you want to see your children next week, you will get your stupid batons and get the hell out of here."

The men froze. As quickly as they came, they started backing away, leaving one to stand by them. Law didn't need to look to see what it was.

"That man is my prisoner. He and his brothers assaulted an officer. He needs to come down to the station with me Mr. Trafalgar, because he is under _my_ jurisdiction in _my_ country."

"Do you really think you could win this fight _Red Dog?"_ Law asked loftily. Luffy had calmed too quickly. He was blinking back unconsciousness. Law slapped his face to keep him awake. "I don't think you realize who you're messing with. Leave these people alone. You've been warned."

"I'll take you all down to the station if I have to."

Luffy couldn't go. His left pupil had dilated while the other went wide. This type of injury would require a hospital. Law could staunch the bleeding for now but they would need x-rays, a CAT scan, possibly stitches. Luffy's skin was soft beneath his hands. His breathing was slowing to a gentle, lengthened inhale/exhale. He wanted to sleep. Law kept smacking his hand against his cheek, relief pouring through him everytime the man jolted with a start.

Light brown eyes swiveled to him.

"Am I in heaven?"

Law furrowed his brow.

"They don't usually let people that look like you walk around with guys like me." Poetic words as they were, they still came out slurred, awkward pauses between each one. "God sends his most beautiful angels to reward his strongest soldiers."

"That's not how the quote goes," Law muttered, but a pleased little heat crawled over his skin. Luffy grinned, skin hot beneath his hands and expression filled with unblemished, boyish joy. Delusional joy, but joy nonetheless.

"Get the car," He said to Penguin, who had run up in the meantime. "And look up the nearest hospital. If I'm right, then Doctor Tony should be somewhere in Rio. If you can call him as well, that would be best."

"Will he be okay?" Law looked from the blood staning his fingers through the tablecloth he used as bandage, to Luana's horrified, tear-stricken face behind the bar.

"He'll be fine, if he spends the night in a hospital instead of a jail cell."

The woman met his gaze. Something in her eyes hardened as understanding passed between the two of them.

"Red Dog," The woman said, tone brokering no arguments. "I will go to the station with you. You and your men will leave Rouge here with the boys and take me alone."

"They assaulted an offi-."

"And I'm sure they're very sorry about it." She ignored Sabo snorting his disagreement." But this started out as an issue between me and Silvas. There's no reason to involve them when this is my responsibility to bear."

A tense silence hung over them all. Law slid his scalpel from under his sleeve to his palm, ready to snatch Luffy up and run to the car if that's what it took. Just as he shifted to cradle Luffy's head against his chest, Red Dog nodded. Luana left from behind the bar. Stiff as a soldier, she straightened out her skirts before beginning her silent walk of doom. Her heels clicked with every step, a certain strength of resolve in their steady tempo as she made her way out the door. Rouge and Red Dog tried to grab her arm but she dodged them both, chin held high.

At their commander's approving nod, the other officers followed her in a steady march. Red Dog was the last to leave. Glancing about, he gave each of them a hateful glare. Just before he left, he flicked a painting from the wall. It dropped to the ground, sending broken glass everywhere. The crash didn't mask the sound of the door slamming shut, nor of Sanji's tirade of curses as he made as if to chase after him before Rouge pulled him back.

Another moment passed in which they just breathed.

But then Ace and Sabo were at his shoulders, looking down at their little brother with matching expressions of worry. 

"He'll be fine," Law announced again. "But I need to get him out of here. Now."

Dark bruises, cuts and scrapes covered the men when he actually faced them. It looked gruesome, but they were still conscious. Luffy took priority. Still, he ordered Shachi to stay back. Stuffing a few _reals_ into the man's hands, he said,

"Take care of them, and the children that come in later. Rouge will probably let you stay the night, then buy a cab ride back to site in the morning."

It was inconvenient, but he knew the orders would be followed anyway. His men were loyal to him to fault. He did his best to deserve it every day. Clutching Luffy to him gently, careful not to shift his head, he made his way out to the running car, slipping the man's limp body into the backseat.

"I'll bring him back in the morning," he promised to the worried faces gathered at the door. The look in their faces promised retribution if he didn't. Ace jolted, as if he were going to try and jump into the car himself, but Rouge held him back by the bicep.

"We have one of yours. You have one of ours. We'll trade in the morning." She said.

It was the politest way he'd ever heard a threat phrased.

Shutting the door, he let Penguin do the driving, whipping through the streets at a speed that surely would've caused them to get pulled over if they weren't a marked medical car. Luffy was still in his lap, messy black hair scattered like little tendrils over the denim. The bleeding had stopped, but the fabric had been soaked through. Worried about blood loss, Law kept shaking him to keep him awake.

"If you fall asleep, you could enter a coma and we could lose you. Luana would have my head."

"You're so...scared of my _mãe_...she's harmless y'know?" He smiled dreamily. "Like a dog. All bark, no bite."

"Like my father then." Law said, because it was the first thing to come to mind. He hoped Luffy would ignore, but there was a small corner of his heart that wanted the man to ask. To have him peel back that layer.

It was that small sector that won. Luffy sighed softly. His eyes fluttered. Law pressed a hand to them, forcing the eyelids back with his fingers.

"Tell me about him. A funny story to keep me awake."

He licked his lips. That familiar wound in his chest made its presence known. But Luffy's hand was in his, a soothing balm that laid its fingers in the gaping hole, stitching it back together inch by inch.

"His name was Rosinante Donquixote, but everyone who knew him called him _Corazon_ , because of his big heart..."

He spoke of his father in a way he hadn't been able to since the man passed. He spoke and he could smell the familiar scent of cigarettes, hear how he would yell when the butt burned his fingers after staying held for too long. Law spoke through the lump in his throat, voice hoarse and raspy at points, but trembling with restrained laughter in others. One story would be told and others-memories lost to grief long ago-would come streaming through his mind like an endless stream of film.

And he could feel the fingers against his palm, rubbing soothing circles into his flesh, coaxing every syllable, every swallowed gasp, out of him like a lover.

"He was my greatest friend," Law finished. "I didn't know how we would end up when he adopted me. To be honest, I thought he was a bumbling idiot but, somehow..." He paused. The fingers intertwined with his own and squeezed.

"I would have liked him," Luffy said, uncharacteristically quiet. His eyes had a faraway look, nothing to do with the head injury. They peered at Law like they did the first time he saw them, soft but deep, weighed with a knowledge beyond his years. Law felt that same wisdom rub off on him. It granted him the confidence he needed to speak true,

"He would've liked you too."

They looked at each other then. Luffy's hand was still warm in his own, grip tightening as he tried to hoist himself up. Brown eyes flickered from Law's gaze to his lips, and time seemed to stop. He leaned down as Luffy came up.

Then Penguin slammed the brakes and sent them both crashing back to the seat.

"Sorry!" The man said. "We're here! Chopper's already waiting for you in the ER!"

Law rubbed the back of his head, groaning.

"Maybe I'll get checked out while I'm here...since _someone_ doesn't know how to drive."

"C'mon Cap! It's an emergency! Let's get him out of here!"

Dr. Tony Tony Chopper was waiting for them in the ER. The man was young for his profession, barely into his 20s, but he had already achieved international acclaim for his feats in neurosurgery. Law doubted Luffy would need care that drastic, but he still felt more comfortable leaving him in the hands of the best of the best. Just before the man could be wheeled in for scans, he took off his trademark strawhat.

"Keep him safe. He's very important to me." He said seriously. Law cracked a wry smirk.

"I'll try."

"I wasn't talking to you."

Luffy's saucy wink and grin burned into his mind long after he disappeared behind the swinging double doors.

* * *

Sure enough, it wasn't until the next morning that Luffy could be discharged. Law and Penguin spent the night in the car, slumped over each other's shoulders with entangled legs, bunched under a much-too small emergency blanket. Dr. Chopper came out to knock on their window in the morning, coffee and fruits in hand.

"It was a bad hit no doubt," The doctor said as they entered the building. The familiar smell of sanitizer and sterilizer was a comfort for Law's fried nerves. "But he'll be fine. The bleeding's stopped. No cranial swelling and his pupils are back in order. We were thorough-beyond thorough even, because it was a favor to you Law- but if he shows any troubling symptoms, even the slightest thing, don't be afraid to bring him back to me. Oh!"

They had reached Luffy's room. The man sat up in bed, a plate of hospital food wiped clean at his side. He turned to them and grinned. Dr. Chopper stomped right up to him, waggling his tiny finger in his face.

"And no more fighting! Against a group of cops? What were you thinking? You're a very, _very_ lucky boy but luck runs out! Take care of yourself Luffy!"

It was a funny sight. Dr. Chopper was no taller than four feet. With his baby face and similarly wild mess of dark brown hair, he looked like he could be Luffy's younger brother. But the man bowed his head as the doctor went on his rant, effectively cowed into submission in the wake of professional fury. When he could, he ran to Law like a lifeline, crawling up his body like a monkey, batting Dr. Chopper away with a sandaled foot like he were some dog.

The check out process was easy, considering the fact that Luffy didn't have an ID on him and how neither Law nor Penguin were blood relatives. (He highly suspected Dr. Chopper's involvement in the matter and gave a silent thanks to the Doctor when he had a moment.)

It wasn't long till they were back in the car, running back to _Dias de Sol_ , tired but whole. Luffy was active enough when they started.

"You got any stereo in this scrap heap? Let's get some music playing!" Before anyone could stop him, he was fiddling with the radio, running through the channels till he finally stopped on a station playing one of the _lewdest_ songs Law had _ever_ heard. He sang along, even leapt up at one point to do a little twerk, leaning out of the jeep shamelessly, much to Penguin's amusement.

Glad that he was okay, but horribly embarassed as other cars slowed to stare and honk, Law ignored Luffy's pert little ass wriggling between his personal space and the window, tucked the straw hat over his eyes, and tried to sleep. 

(He failed, because there was no sleep if Luffy didn't want you to sleep.)

He began to settle the closer they got to the club. Though he was quiet, he was not calm. He was gnawing at his nails, foot tapping a mile a minute. He was glancing through the window, then back down to the carpet of the car, and out the window again.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Law said with a sigh. Luffy looked to him, brown eyes wide, thumb still at his lips. "Luana's dealt with worse I'm sure. Raising you and your brothers couldn't have been easy."

Luffy smiled at that. It was small, but it was promising.

"Good thing she has you to relieve the load," Luffy teased lightly. "When I go to live with you, she'll be so happy."

"Hmm?"

"We'll marry of course." It was a joke, surely. But Luffy said it with the same tone he used when Law left, saying a cheery _"See you soon!"_ when he was sure he'd never see this boyish grin again.And, well...here Law was. Pressed tight against him in the back of a company car, relishing every contact their skin made. How long had they really known each other? Two days total? How long was it till society deemed it proper to propose?

(This was crazy. Luffy was crazy. Why was he even entertaining the thought? Obviously he was joking.)

"You'll try and take me to Canada," He pronounced the country's name strangely, the vowels taking on a melodious lilt. "I'll eat your poutine and love it, but I'll despise the cold so we'll decide to stay here in Brazil. You'll go off and do doctor things and I'll make my music. We'll see each other once every other full moon, but it'll be okay, because we're both loyal people."

"Proper soulmates you two are." Penguin said from the front seat, and had he always been there? Listening to their conversations? An uncomfortable heat traveled up Law's neck but Luffy batted it away with a firm grasp on his shoulder.

"Look!" He said, pointing.

Sure enough, Luana was in front of the lounge, standing before a crowd of bystanders Her skirts were bunched and tied up, brown feet bare and covered with dirt as she chased a soccer ball, wild grin on her face as she stuck an arm out to block Rouge, in a similar state of dress, from stealing it from her. Ace seemed to be on her team. With an expert kick his way, the man dribbled down to where Sanji stood, pant legs rolled up as he took the classic goalie stance between two sticks stuck into the ground. Ace aimed, knocking the ball high enough to hit the top of the car as they rolled to a stop, straight through the poles.

_"GOAAAALLLLLL!!!!"_ The man screamed, pounding his chest like Tarzan. His teammates crowded him, linking their arms around his shoulders and rocking back and forth as they repeated the word. The other team, Rouge, Sanji and Sabo mourned their loss with dignity. At least until Sabo said something rude that had Ace running to tackle him.

Behind them, the door to Dias de Sol was covered in police tape, blocking entry to all. Law heard Luffy's gasp just before he was pushed out of the way as the man tumbled out of the car.

"Ma!"

"Luffy!"

They all ran to hug him but he was a man on a mission, tugging them all along in an embrace till he reached the door, reading the notice with an expression that steadily got stormier the further he got.

"What's this?" He asked, enraged. He didn't wait for an answer. He ripped the note off, tossed it to the ground, then went to work on the tape, scratching down as much as he could before his brothers caught his arms and dragged him back.

"Repossession, my love. Don't mind it."

"Don't mind? Mom-No, _Moms_ , you both worked hard for this! It's not right! This is ours!"

"No," Rouge countered. "This belongs to the Silvas. We were paying them bit by bit to buy off the space and we defaulted."

She clapped her hands together, making the sound effect of a ' _poof'_. It was then that Law noticed her red her eyes were, still swollen from crying even as a wild grin spread across her face 

"It's gone! Back to the Silvas! Pick a team! We're playing futebol now! Law, you'll be on whatever team Luffy doesn't choose!"

Luffy wasn't having it. He turned to his brothers. Ace and Sabo avoided his gaze, turning to the ground. Seeing he wouldn't garner their support, Luffy looked back to his mother, grasping the woman by the shoulders and shaking her.

"So we're giving up? What about your _dream_? What about mine? I don't want to be a musician if I can't play in the greatest bossa nova club in Brazil!"

She was already shaking her head. 

"Unless we can raise 50000 reals by next week, _'Dias de Sol_ ' will never open its doors again."

A collective gasp rose through the crowd. After a closer look, Law recognized some of the faces. These were the woman and children of the night. The ones that needed a place to rest, a hot meal, school fees. The loss didn't only impact the family. It was the community.

Luffy fell back as if struck. Wringing his hands for a moment, he remembered himself then brought them to his side.

"Well!" He called out to the crowd. "Looks like we have no choice but to fight Red Dog! Everyone who's with me say _I_!"

"No," Law interjected. The word was echoed by more than he could pinpoint. "I'm not going through this again with you. Dr. Chopper will have both our heads. You need a _plan._ You can't just run in there guns blazing."

He knew his words made sense. Luffy did too, but he didn't like it. Scowling, he fixed Law with a look as if to say ' _Oh come on_ ' before crossing his arms. Again, they all fell to silence.

One of the girls stood up. She was one of the two that was close with Luffy, attractive with auburn hair falling to her waist. She was scantily clad. Only a bikini top and some jean shorts, coupled with a pair of sandals. When she approached Luffy, Law couldn't help but cleanly step in between the two, blocking her path. She wasn't phased. Plucking the soccer ball from the ground, she tossed it high before catching it, a cat's smirk sitting pretty on her face.

" _I've_ got an idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cat Burglar Nami here to save the day!!!
> 
> This fic is such a comforting one to write. I'm finishing up Chapter 5 now and I'm a little sad lmao. The main story will soon come to a close, but don't be surprised if end up adding a one-shot or two about Dragon and Luana, or even throw Roger into this little mix. I like this AU a whole lot!!! Thanks for reading, dropping a kudos, rec-ing, all of that good stuff! I hope you all continue to enjoy this piece!


	4. ONE WORLD

The girl's name was Nami, Law learned. And her  _ girlfriend's _ name was Vivi. They were a pair of street cats, stealing what they could and swindling the rest. After getting kicked out from both their houses for their relationship, Dias de Sol was the only home they'd known in a long time. 

"I'd do anything to protect it. Those two-those women...they're what me and Vi can be someday," Her eyes softened as she plastered a poster to a wall. "Beautiful. Independent. Successful. But still caring enough to give back to those that _really_ need it. Did you know they charge men extra at the bar? Genius really. I want to be them when I'm thirty."

There were other stories. Teens cast out for coming out. Women escaping bad home situations with their kids. Children themselves without enough trust in the adults to give them anything more than the bare bones. They explained with nothing more than a " _I can't go back because I don't want to._ " and Dias de Sol took them in without question.

"So long as they keep going to school," Rouge said sternly, hanging up streamers some of the children made. "The last thing they need is to get stuck without some level of education. Poverty is cyclical you know! Once I got my degree and my money, I dragged my family on up with me. I worked  _ hard _ and..."

She gestured to Ace at the bottom of the hill playing his guitar under the bright sun, winking at the pretty faces that passed by. A particular older man with strangely shaped blonde hair had stopped to listen when the two were interrupted by Rouge's shout.

"This is what I get! A lousy, lazy son who skips school to play a  _ cavaquinho  _ all day! _ACE! GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR!"_

She tossed her shoe down at him, scowling as the man scrambled to run away.

"I swear, if this thing works, we'll let them play samba every night they want." She muttered, returning to the task at hand.

But it was Sabo's story that surprised him the most. He didn't hear it until they were alone. He was in the passenger side of the Jeep, with the blonde man driving, an easy jazz playing on the radio, when it was sprung on him.

"Thank you for helping my little brother. I know he's a handful, but I'm glad he was with someone responsible that night." 

Sabo was steady where the others were chaotic. He was just as crazy, no doubt, but there was a method to his madness. While the others just got up and raged, Sabo sat and thought, reluctant to listen to his gut until he was sure, whether or not that meant he was too late to act. 

But when he did move, he went all in. Out of the trio, this was the one that Law feared the most.

"It was no trouble at all. I was glad to help. Your mo..." He hesitated on the word. It was a mistake he couldn't help. "Your _family_ does good work. It would be a shame to see it all shut down like that."

He hoped he had fixed it, but Sabo had noticed. He didn't seem to mind. His smile stayed light despite the weight of his words.

"Neither of those two are my biological mothers, nor are those two my brothers by blood."

"But they are your family all the same," Law argued vehemently. 

"...I don't have anyone else." The blonde said after a moment. "My birth family-the Silvas-they are monsters. If I stayed with them, I could've ended up like Stelly." He scrunched his nose in distaste. Law's gaze drifted to the burn mark covering the side of his face, a question he didn't dare speak aloud in the back of his throat.

"I became a Portgas-Monkey to be safe. To be free to play samba all day if it pleased me. I don't want to go into details, but a lot of those kids want that same freedom. I want to help Luana and Rouge help them the way they helped me."

The conversation was lighter after that. Sabo walked him through the _samba vs. bossa nova_ debate that tortured their lively household day after day. ("Luana can't dance! That's why she doesn't like samba! But Luffy thinks bossa nova is boring and slow! He likes samba's energy!") then told a few stories of his own. They weren't nearly as strange as Luffy's, but they passed the time it took to get back to the CORAZON site. 

"See you soon." Law bid him goodbye, rapping his knuckles against the window before giving a little wave. 

The children didn't crowd as they did the first them, but there were more than a few friendly calls of greeting as he walked through the street, passing by colorful tightly packed houses. Garp sat by his own, lounging in a rickety wooden chair with his sandaled feet in the dirt and his body stretched out over the back. The straw hat was tipped low over his face, hiding his expression. Law could still tell he was awake. Lucio was right next to him in his wheelchair. He had made a full recovery. Though the white patches remained, he was gaining weight at an easy pace.

He was giving it his best shot, judging by the pile of boiled groundnut shells growing in his lap. At their feet, Crocodile sat, hard at work on peeling a mango. His fingers were dextrous, easily accustomed to the curves of the dagger. He carved into the flesh of the fruit with ease. 

He wanted Law to know this. That's why he made eye contact as Law approached. 

_"Senhors_ ," The doctor greeted politely. "I hope you're having a good day."

"I heard you saved my nephew." Crocodile said, eyes flicking back to his fruit when he was that Law wasn't intimidated. "This family owes you a favor."

And it was one that Law never intended to claim. 

"I owed your family first," he replied diplomatically. "Consider us even now."

The man nodded, pressing a slice of mango into his mouth, chewing silently.  A moment passed, then two. Law squirmed, unsure of how to work this out. Garp spoke up, low sleepy rasp no less intimidating.

"You going to stand there all day or are you going to go _heal the lepers_?"

After a mental _'fuck it'_ , Law just took the plunge. Pulling the flyer from his jean pocket, he stuck it out,

"Luana told me to invite you all. She said you should invite all your old cop friends."

"My old cop friends are long gone, boy." The old man grumbled, plucking the sheet from the air. Hard brown eyes scanned the paper, then went wide.

_ "EHHH? STRAWHAT **SAMBA** FESTIVAL?" _

* * *

It took a collective effort from a team of 40, half of which were underage, to get the Strawhat Street Fair up and running in four days. It wasn't run past the city of course, so officially it was themed party night at Dias de Sol, the bossa nova club which was... _shut down by the city._

Unofficially, it was a massive rent party that took up two whole blocks. The ASL brothers would perform, of course, and any other musician that wanted to contribute their talents for the cause. Sanji was cooking up a storm of street fair food to sell at a huge booth manned by him and Zoro. Others were using their talents to set up games, but their still the mtter of traffic.  The 'repurposed' tape from the doors of the music club seemed to work just fine in blocking off their own section of the streets. They were up and ready to run around noon.

The issue was the lack of people.

Rouge stared down the road as she had for the past hour. "No one's coming," She muttered. "We should've cut out losses and spent our money on plane tickets to Nice or something. Get our fathers out of the favela and go somewhere else."

"That's our home," Luana said sternly. "And be patient."

But that conversation happened ten minutes ago and still, no one. Luffy pressed a hand to his lip, but Law caught it before he could bite down on his nails.  The barmaid, Makino, looked ready to cry.

He was about to suggest a change in tactics, when they heard it.

_Music_. Sweet, sweet, lively music. The thumping of drums, shaking of maracas, and chiming of bells. The whine of bullet horns ring out before they appear at the end of the road, turning the corner.

A crowd larger than they could have anticipated. It had to be at least half of Rio prancing through the street like they owned it, dancing and playing and laughing. They were dressed for a festival, all wild colors, feathers and sequins, flags waving through the air.

And at their head, on top of a float shaped like a dragon, was the Red-haired Shanks. Bare chested with green and white stripes painted across his cheeks and pecks, he grinned wildly, hoisting a megaphone up to his mouth.

_"It's not a samba carnaval without the floats is it? Isn't that right Luffy?"_ Then with a wild laugh, he tried to dance as the woman did, all quick feet and smooth curves in his belly.

He looked like a chicken.

(But it made Makino laugh, which might have been his goal all along.)

"This is insane," Rouge breathed. Luana ran to the front, hoisting a hand over her eyes to block out the sun so she could see.

"Is that Brook?"

"Brook?" Ace asked. "The famous singer Brook?" Sabo ran forward.  "How does a drunkard like Shanks know Brook?"

It turned out that it was the famous singer Brook. Law had no idea who that was, but Luffy was adamant that they corral him into a picture as soon as they had a chance. He spent the entire festival plastered to the man's side. He allowed it, if only for the fact that he was allowed to keep the straw hat on his head. It kept him cool blocking out the worst of the sun's rays from his eyes. 

The only time he wasn't at Luffy's side was when ASL was pulled onto a lion-headed float by a huge man with blue hair, one of the musicians from the first roadside samba. They played a few songs, with Nami and Vivi as their main dancers, along with a mysterious dark-haired woman, again one of the same from the original roadside samba.

It was strange how life worked out like that. Things really did come full circle. 

Luffy took the guitar with him when he left the stage. His brothers remained, pulling their mothers onto the float, both with wide smiles and dark sunglasses. Luana took the mic, leaving Rouge to dance. It wasn't long till their song started up, a rapid-fire beat that had the boys banging on drums faster than Law could've kept up.

_ "Ô, Inaê, rainha do mar _

_ Alodê, Iabá, Odoyá _

_ Cuida de mim, mamãe, leva meu pranto _

_ Em seus braços, o meu acalanto _

_ Sorrir, sim, nós podemos sonhar _

_ Pois temos um futuro pela frente _

_ Punhos cerrados _

_ A Saracura está presente _

_ É que eu sou da pele preta _

_ Quilombo do povo, eu sou Vai-Vai _

_ Um privilégio que não é pra qualquer um _

_ Protegido e abençoado por Ogum" _

"You don't like dancing?" Luffy asked curiously. His arms were slung over Law's shoulders. He smelled like sweat and heat and sweet fruit. Like a monkey, he scrambled to get around to his front, grinning all the while as he poked Law in the cheek.

"I don't know how," The doctor admitted. Corazon had two left feet. He stumbled around getting up in the morning. The man on the dance floor was a public safety hazard so they didn't go out to parties like this very much.

But Luffy wasn't going to accept that.

"It's easy!" He said. Law snorted, jerking his head to where the woman moved in six-inch heels, kicking up anything that got in their way as they rocked back and forth. Luffy smirked, an dangerous thing on such an innocent face, then broke away, joining the women's line flawlessly. He arched his foot till he was resting on his toes, pink slip of his heel high in the air, matching each movement, each twist of the arm and roll of the body.

"Easy!" He shouted over the noise with a wild laugh.

"Don't listen to him." Vivi said as she passed by. "Rouge used to be a dancer. He was trained by a professional when he was young."

The man yelled at Nami for selling him out, to which she only laughed, but that didn't mean Law was off the hook.

"We'll do a simple one." Luffy promised, taking Law's hands and tugging him. 

It was definitely  _ not  _ a simple one. Law eventually simply turned into a lifeless doll in Luffy's arms, letting the man tug him back and forth as he pleased. Against his will, a lightness sprang in his chest, bubbling up through his lungs till he was throwing his head back in laughter when Luffy dipped him back, awkward due to their difference in height, but the smaller man had no issue lifting him like toothpick, spinning him around and setting him back on the ground. He couldn't even lift a hand to hide his snickers; Luffy had his wrists in an iron grip. He was a toy the other man refused to release. 

At least until his stomach rumbled. Law led the way to Sanji's food stand without a word. A familiar face stood behind the counter, straw hat perched on his head and smile wide as he clapped Zoro on the shoulder.

"Gramps?"

Garp turned and looked at the pair, eyes roaming from Luffy's hand clutched tight in his to Law's face-his eyes narrowed here, a promise of an incoming reckoning gleaming in their depths-before he turned to his grandson himself.

"Luffy! I hear you've been fighting cops! If you wanted your ass beat so bad, you should've just come home! I've got housework for you to do and a knuckle sandwich for when you screw it up!"

"I don't like knuckle sandwiches Gramps! They make my stomach hurt."

The two stared each other down, then burst out laughing. Law tried to inch closer to see if he could get a kebab, but Garp shoved him away from his grandson forcibly. Taking the hint, he let the two be, picking out a large variety of snacks and drinks for Sanji to cook up. He looked remarkably relaxed despite the huge crowd clamoring for food, doing several things at once with only two hands, cigarette dangling in his mouth and emitting a steady stream of smoke. His eyes were closed. He was in a different level of zen entirely. Zoro was having way too much fun slicing up meat. Usopp was a complete wreck by the register. Nami had to step in, slipping the wad of bills out of Law's hands and counting aloud. She relegated the man to hand-off duty. Law received the bundled goods with a gracious nod, lingering till the woman finally looked at him.

"My change?" He asked pointedly. She arched a brow. 

"It's for charity." She said sweetly.

"You slipped it into your bra."

" _I'm_ the charity case. Move along. Your boyfriend's waiting for you."

Sure enough, Luffy had finished with his grandfather, eying the bundle in Law's hands with stars in his eyes. This was a battle he wouldn't win on any front. Resigning himself to defeat, he went with his tail tucked between his legs to Luffy, smile only returning when the man looped his arm with his, tugging him down to speak.

"Let's go on an adventure." The whisper against his ear sent shivers up his spine. He let Luffy take his hand in his, following him through the crowd till they hit the open road. They made their way in relative silence. Luffy whistled a tune, strumming his little guitar every so often. Law relished the silence as they moved all the way down to where the streets met the white sand, staring out to the shore.

Luffy was quick to take off his shirt, baring his tawny skin to his audience of one, as it seemed the rest of the usual beachgoers had gone to the festival. He kicked off his sandals, weedling out of his jean shorts and took off running to the water with a yelp. Law didn't try to stop him. He picked a spot a good distance from the rising tide, folding all of the man's clothes, taking up his _ cavaquinho _ and setting it to the side. Then he removed his own shoes and sat. The sun was beginning to set but the sand was still hot from that day. It sank between his toes as he tried to get settled, pulling a kebab from its foil wrap and beginning to eat. 

Luffy was having the time of his life. His silhouette was dark against the easy waves, but his laughter rang out over their little roar. He splashed and swam, spitting salt water into the air. Law watched it all, skipping the beauty of a cariocan sunset in favor of watching how Luffy moved, dancing to a song only his body knew, forging his own beat and rhythm from the tools he was given. 

Law wanted to hear it. He would learn how to dance, if that meant they could move to the same song.

A wonder, that one was. He hadn't been this happy in a while.

Luffy came jogging up the shore, muscles tight from the cold but his smile wide. Then he shook his head like a dog, sending salt water  _ everywhere _ , and the effect was ruined.

"Food," the man said, descending on the coxinha and pasteis like a man starved. He told Law to tell him another Corazon story between bites, humming along as Law dredged up the details of a snowstorm that happened when he was 6.

"The car broke down and my fever was getting worse so he climbed out and walked six miles in the snow. He says that's the day he decided to become a doctor. So we'd never have to go through that again."

"He loved you a lot." Luffy said in a hushed hum. He offered Law a slice of mango, graciously accepted. The juice was sweet on his tongue as he bit into it, flesh compliant between his teeth. Law couldn't say anything to his words. He knew. He rejected the idea at first, but deep down inside him, he knew that the man loved his kid from the moment he picked him up from the ruins of Flevance. 

"And your Dad?"

The man snorted. Laying back in the sand, he left the mango core and knife abandoned, staring up at the encroaching wave of night. 

"Gone," He said simply. The air swallowed the word, tossing it to the waves. He didn't volunteer any more information, and Law didn't press.

They moved on to other things, talking till the sand beneath their skin grew cool, and the breeze picked up slightly. They didn't leave, only huddled closer till Law could smell the salt on his skin, see lingering drops of the sea clinging to dark messy hair.

"Do you have anyone waiting for you? In Canada?" He pronounced it strangely again. Law followed the movement of his lips, his own parting as the sight of pink slip of tongue curling around the vowels to smooth them out into a lilt.

He swallowed thickly.

Big, brown eyes blinked up at him.

The waves crashed against the shore. 

Law answered with a kiss. It was cool and sticky, lips slightly chapped from the day's heat. Luffy was still below him. Tense with his limbs frozen in the sand. Law began to withdraw, embarrassment climbing quick, when the other man made a strangled sound. His lips fell open, as if to devour him whole, warm, wet tongue curiously edging towards the seam of Law's little smirk. 

He never had any choice but to let himself get pulled in by the tide. 

They kissed like teenagers: frantic and hurried. As if they didn't have all the time in the world to sit by the seaside and love indulgently. Law clasped Luffy's jaw between his fingers, angling it just right for him to chase down the fresh, sugary taste of mango past the salt of the ocean and sweat. Luffy hummed, smile wicked against his own. He pawed at his shirt, thumb easing over a nipple till it was pert, silently begging for the freedom to roam and touch.

Then a ringing sent them scrambling apart. For a few seconds, they looked at each other, chest's heaving as they sucked into the cold air. Law willed the heat from his skin back, adjusting his legs to disguise the problem in his jeans. 

Judging from Luffy's little grin and knowing gaze, he didn't move fast enough. But before the man could play his advantage, the ringing burst out once more, more insistent this time, as if whoever was on the other side of the line was trying to push their rage through the airwaves.

Luffy slipped his phone out of his pocket.

"Mãe?" He barely had the chance to hold the phone away from his ear before his mother's voice blew him away.

_ "LUFFY! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS? WE ARE ALL HERE HUSTLING AND YOU'VE RUN OFF WITH THAT MAN! YOU LAZY LITTLE BOY! GET BACK HERE AND WORK!" _

The line clicked. Luffy rubbed the back of his neck, red creeping up his cheeks.

"I, uh, _mmm?_ "

"It's okay. Go help your  _ mãe." _

Luffy scrunched his nose at Law's pronunciation, smiling softly. He pressed a kiss to his lips, brief and chaste, before whispering a goodbye and taking off running towards town, pulling on clothes as he went.

Law stayed, staring out at the darkening waters.

"Is this one mine?" He whispered into the night, hoping somehow, someway Rosinante could hear. 

The sea roared its answer. Grinning to himself like a lovestruck fool, he stripped off his clothes and went to run into the tide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh 1 more chapter to go after this!!! Thanks for all the support thus far! I read every comment and cherish every kudos!!! I'm glad y'all are liking this fic! Hope you enjoy this installment!!!


	5. The Boy From Ipanema

The jazz was smooth and the smoke was sweet. Law sat at a table with Penguin and Shachi, a Caipirinha cool in his hand as he watched Luffy play on the stage. The man with the straw hat was on drums that night, his familiar cuíca in his hand as Sabo strummed a guitar and Ace sang. The club was packed from wall to wall, body to body tucked tight together, making the temperature rise with the gray haze. If he would look to the bar, he would see Rouge pluck a fan out of Luana's hand cool herself off. He didn't. His eyes were glued to the stage and its surroundings. There were no dancers that night, but that wasn't for lack of energy. The songs were a crowd favorite, it seemed, as the entire room swelled into song with Ace, hooking arms over each other’s shoulders and swaying.

_ "O pai dela é doutor, sabe que eu sou cantor _

_ E a mãe já me deu o papo pra cuidar bem dela _

_ Olha eu sou trabalhador _

_ Me coloco ao seu dispor _

_ Sou honesto e meu amor hoje é só pra ela" _

There was a humming in his chest, a strange feeling that told him to fully sit in and enjoy the moment. That he would long for it when it passed, try to recount the details of the scene when he was old and gray. So he did. He took in the taste of alcohol on his tongue, lime tart on the hill of his taste buds. He took in beautiful brown eyes, a pale crescent scar and a crooked grin filled with pear;y white teeth and mirth.

(What was it about this moment? He wondered. What did he need from this place and time?)

The room was hot. Sweat beaded at his brow only to be wiped away with a careless swipe. He looked down at tawny hands, how they handled the strange drum expertly, confident with ages of practice. 

Then Luffy met his gaze and winked, smile growing impossibly wider. 

"Awww look at Cap! The man's in love!"

_ Ah, so that was it. _

He rolled the word over in his mind, thinking through its syllables, repeating it again in Portuguese. Then in French. 

Love.  _ Amar. L'amour. _

No matter the language, the humming in his chest only hastened at the sound of it, as if to agree. He didn't let the word slip past his tongue, for fear of everything and nothing at once, but he kept it in that lively thrum, tucking it in his heart for safe-keeping.

(There would be another moment when he could say it aloud. Of that he was sure.)

The door slammed open because that was all it could do when Law was having a good time. The music didn't stop even as Stelly strutted in, musclemen at his side trying to force his way through the crowd.

"LUANA! ROUGE!" He tried to call out over the singing. "I NEED MY MONEY!"

The boys stopped playing, but the crowd continued to sing until the song was finished. The women allowed it to happen, watching over their patrons with matching easy eyes, waiting for the burst of applause before slowly making their way out from behind the bar.

Luana grasped the mic as Rouge came to a stop in front of the man, cigarette dangling from the cheshire grin of her lips.

_ "Here." _ The word reverberated through the sudden hush. Rouge withdrew a thick envelope from between her breasts. "There's your money. Enough for us to  _ buy this place out _ , as according to the deal we made with your father." 

Luana grinned, outstretched her hands to gesture to the men at her side. "We'll send the boys around to pick up the deed on Monday."

W ith that said, Rouge pushed the man out, waving her fan to bat him away as Zoro and Sanji took over, grasping each of his arms and tugging him out as the rest of his men followed.

The door shut with a heavy thud. Whispers began as Rouge stood in front of it, faced the crowd and-with the widest smile he'd seen since he met her-shouted

_ "DRINKS ON THE HOUSE TONIGHT!!!" _

The resulting roar of cheers was deafening to the ear but resonated with his heart. He couldn't help but join the rounds of applause with his own, thumping his palm against the table in time with Penguin and Shachi, accepting the latter's offer to brave the surge of people that went to the bar to refresh their drinks. 

He handed his glass off, turning back to Luana on the stage, smile refusing to fade as Luffy creeped upon his mother like a monkey, looming over her shoulder to snatch the mic out of her hand before she could react.

"Samba Night! Samba night! Samba night!" He began the chant with the cheeky smile of a bastard that knew he would win. Sure enough, the crowd joined in, yelling the words over and over again until Luana was shaking her head in defeat.

"Samba night," She said, cutting off into laughter as Luffy threw an arm around her neck for a tight hug, yelling his victory as the boys began to set up. It seemed like he didn't have any intention to play, because as soon as he looked up, his eyes were on Law and his feet were making a bee line for their table. 

Sensing what was to come, Law tried backing up but there was nowhere to go. 

"Dance with me." The man demanded. There was no way he could say no. Luffy already had a hand on his wrist, tugging him up. Ignoring the catcalls, he followed the man to a spot where the dancers once spent the night twirling away. The area was filled with standing onlookers, more like the general audience of a concert hall than a club.

"I don't think we have enough space," Law said lowly when Luffy turned to face him. Warm arms looped around his neck as Luffy hummed. His eyes fluttered shut, eyelashes thick and dark, tips barely brushing his scar. 

Law wanted to press a kiss each lid, just to see if they were as soft as they looked.

"It'll be fine," Luffy murmured with a small snicker. "People don't play  _ samba-enredo  _ when there's no Carnaval. They'll play some pagode or somethin' nice."

He watched as the younger held back a yawn. They stood there and rocked to the beat, listening to the chorus of voices sing along to a love song. Law relaxed his hand on Luffy's slim waist, chin tucked on the other's head, relaxing into the smell of smoke and pine shampoo.

Luffy hummed along aloud. Law hummed along in silence.

* * *

2 WEEKS LATER

Law's arrival at Dias de Sol was no longer a big deal. There used to be a fuss when he arrived to get him a plate and a drink, but that ended after the Carnaval. As he entered, Luana sent him a glance and threw a rag his way, pointing at the tables with a "Hi. Help out."

"Is Luffy around?" He asked, accepting the task. That had her straighten up to look at him properly. Rouge, sensing trouble brewing, set the glass she was wiping down on the counter. 

"You've been sniffing around my nephew a lot lately," She remarked idly, ever the instigator. "We've been letting you drink for free since you two are friends."

"He's better than Shanks." Luana said with a snort. "He pays for drinks."

Rouge's dark eyes never left him, seeing right through the indifferent facade he put on. The woman smiled. 

He was  _ fucked _ .

"Maybe so. But he's getting a little more than drinks in return no?"

"Hey, hey, hey! Stop with the Shanks slander!" The man lifted his head from the counter, eyes bleary from drink. He wasn't so out of it that he couldn't focus on Law though. His gaze matched his sister's: predatory, intentful. As if he had snuck into the other man's den and attempted to kill one of his cubs.

"But it has crossed my mind," He started deceptively slowly, accepting the cup of water Makino the barmaid held out for him. "You're here temporarily aren't you? That contract has to end someday."

Law stiffened. The thought kept him awake more nights than he could count. Shanks cast one final side-eye his way. There was no mistaking his tone for anything other than a threat.

"Don't get attached if you have no intention of following through."

* * *

Kid came around on a Monday. It was well into the afternoon that the vans carrying his men and their equipment rolled into the favela. The Brazilian sun didn't treat him any better than it did Law. His skin was almost as red as his hair, peeling on his bare shoulders from old sunburn. The usually stony expression he wore was even angrier as he sidled out of the van, cursing up a storm as he tried to dip the rim of his baseball cap even lower to block out the blazing light.

With a polite nod at Law, they skipped the pleasantries and went straight to business. Law and Penguin led them to the spot where the boulder sat, between the town and the jungle. CORAZON labs had already removed the samples they needed and then some, but there was still a huge bulk of the mineral left behind the police tape.

"Are you sure this is all of it?"

"No," Law answered truthfully. "But this is the one that our patients pointed out."

With a sharp whistle, Kid called some of his men to his side, giving instructions to scan the area for any more of the lead. Whipping out his goggles, he took a look at the rock, humming to himself skeptically.

"It'll fetch a good price on the market," He said finally. "It's pure. No exterior signs of foliation, odds of metamorphism are low...but I'll still have to crack it open to take a look."

Law didn't know what those words meant, nor did he care.

"I just want it gone," he said simply. His phone vibrated in his pocket. Probably another message from Luffy.

"I'll be in the CORAZON building if you need anything," His deadpan face betrayed none of the thrill in his chest as he opened the photo message. Luffy and his brother grinned up at him, shirtless by the beach. 

He walked back to base, tapping away at his device, blissfully unaware of the suspicious dark eyes watching him move.

If he took a longer break than usual to talk on the phone, none of his associates had the guts to say anything.

* * *

It took Kid's team a day to identify all of the amber lead. It took another two to excavate it all, drawing it from the earth to leave behind massive craters. Already Law's team was discussing possible implementation of a community project, like a large garden or health center to begin to hide the ghastly gaps. 

Kid's men had no part in such a conversation. Their main preoccupation was rolling the rocks down the hill safely. Law knew nothing of how this trade worked, nor was he inclined to ask as Kid yelled in German on his phone to 'try and cement a sale'. He, and the rest of the CORAZON team, watched the progress with many of the inhabitants, clearing the roads for their passage.

He didn't think anything of it, until Garp marched right up to where he sat, body stiff with anger. A storm brewed in his expression, darker than any look he'd ever seen on the man. It was strange, seeing it on features that looked so much like Luffy's.

"How much are you making from this?" He asked, cold and deadly. Penguin and Shachi pressed close at once, but he didn't back down.

"Nothing, at all."

"But  _ he'll _ make something right? Hmm?"

Law did not answer, realization crawling over his men like a hairy-legged spider. Garp's scowl was fierce enough to frighten the devil itself.

"This thing that belongs to our favela-our community; you had the _ audacity _ to let someone come in, steal it from us and sell it for a profit. Money that the people here will never see-!"

"That's amber lead!" Penguin objected. "It was making you all sick!"

"That's not the point," Law placed a placating hand on the man's shoulder, looking to Garp with even eyes. "That was a mistake. I understand that, but as a medical professional I was seeking a quick, efficient solution for my patients-,"

"Without regard for ethics. What happens when you leave doctor? When your little Amber Lead Experiment is over and the poor go back to being sick because they are poor? Have you thought about it?" He wagged his finger angrily, eyes narrowed into slits. "You shouldn't have gotten involved if you're just going to abandon us when it’s all over."

He played those words over and over again in his mind. He tried to fix it. He went to renegotiate terms, but Kid laughed in his face, then took a burly arm and shoved him out of the way.

He wasn't convincing. He didn't intimidate the man enough to make a difference, but he knew people that could.

* * *

"You did  _ WHAT?" _

Law winced as Luana slammed her hands down on the counter. They were still doing prep work for opening. Luffy had been setting up tables when he started at the commotion. His brothers were nowhere to be found, but Law and Zoro had rolled up their sleeves to assist in the effort. 

He had explained the situation to the woman behind the bar as he worked, figuring her advice would be the best he could get in a situation like this.

"I understand that I made a little mistake, but at the time, I wasn't thinking about saving lives like your father's-."

"Who's a  _ local _ , Mr. Doctor. You made a decision about  _ local  _ affairs without consulting anyone! Not Garp! Not me! Hey, even Lu would've said something, right Lu?"

The man shot him an apologetic look, shrugging.

"The favela should get a fair cut." He said simply. "If you're having trouble with this Kiddo guy, I'll just kick his ass for you."

__ _"No!"_ The other three spoke at once. Pouting, Luffy went back to wiping down tables, mumbling about how strong he was. 

"No fighting, " Luana said firmly. She scratched at her pineapple bun, eyes looking to the ceiling lights for answers. "We can't hit them, but I think I know someone who can."

* * *

Law watched Kid shout instructions at a group led by his right-hand man, Killer. They lugged the rock down the hill, straining under the weight of it. They'd been at it for two days now, under the hot Brazilian sun, the scrutiny of the locals, and eager attention of the bugs. 

Luffy stood at his side, a worried furrow in his brow as he looked at the same sight.

"If this doesn't work, I'm kicking their ass."

"You don't have faith in your friend?"

Luffy frowned.

"I believe in him, but I also believe in these fists."

Law had to bite back an eye-roll at that. Tugging the younger man further into the cover of the alleyway, he held his breath as Kid approached, red hair peeking out amongst the crowd of black and brown.

"C'mon!" He was shouting. "I want to be out of this hellhole by tomorrow. It's so fucking hot." He muttered the last bit but anyone with eyes could see the ruddy tint to his skin. If the heat were affecting him so, then maybe his mind wasn't as sharp as normal. The hazier it was, the easier it would be to fool him.

Sure enough, it was time. The crowd cleared with a gasp as a man with long, dark braids stumbled into the streets, right in Kid's path.

"God Usopp!" One of the kids shouted on cue. "Everybody run! He has the curse!" 

(Discreetly, Nami slipped a crisp bill into his tiny hand, ruffling his hair before swatting him away.)

Usopp gave a dreadful groan, moving around like a zombie, reaching out to touch others with a mournful yowl. His brown eyes were wide, rabid like a dog's as they darted about. There was a frothing at his lips (whipped cream-Sanji's idea) and a wild baring of teeth as he huffed and garbled nonsense words. 

But the 'piece de resistance' was the patches of green on his tanned skin. It was the color of moss, but rather than lush, it was dry peeling spots that seemed to grow and fester with each second.

People screamed and jumped back as he tried to touch them, leaping over each other in an attempt to get out of the way. Those 'in the know' hid their laughter behind their hands as others ran inside their homes and restaurants, slamming the doors shut behind them.

Usopp stopped suddenly. Whipping around, he pointed at the strangers tugging at the rock. He leapt at that, a howl leaving his lips as soon as his feet left the ground. At first, it seemed like Kid would be his target, but he moved aside at the last minute, forcing Usopp to land in a pile of workers.

Including Killer. 

The effect was instantaneous. Usopp was hauled away but it was too late. The same green patches had already begun spreading on their skin. They screamed, trying to brush it off to no effect. Killer touched his bicep with shuddering hands then, wordlessly, turned to Kid. Law couldn't see his eyes past the length of blonde bangs, but he could see that frown.

Kid moved as if to grab Usopp but hesitated at the last moment before touching him. He leaned down to bark in his face instead.

"What did you do? Fix them! Is this that rock disease?" 

But Usopp didn't answer. He clutched his arms around himself, leaning back with maniacal laughter.

"It's God Usopp!" Said another child. "He has given the foreigners the curse!" 

(Again, Nami slipped a crisp  _ real _ into her hand.)

"Curse?" One of the afflicted men shouted. 

"God?" yelled another. There was a loud ruckus of shouts and panic. They reached out for help, but the locals backed away, making the sign of the cross and avoiding eye contact with murmured prayers.

"Law!" Kid was yelling, having already given up on getting an answer out of Usopp. "Somebody find the fucking doctor!"

But Law stayed hidden with Luffy just as he was instructed. The two men curled their lips to hold back their snickers as Kid steadily grew more panicked.

"Eustass, it's spreading. Look at it! Doesn't it look bigger to you?"

"Fuck, Killer! Stop touching it dumbass! Oi! Somebody help us! We need a medic!"

"Doctors won't be able to help you." Rouge stood in the center of the street, round sunglasses black as night. A breeze blew past, rustling her blue skirt and blonde hair, taking the smoke from her cigarette and whisking it away. "That's a God Usopp curse. You feel it itching don't you?"

One of the men stopped scratching his skin, looking up at her with horrified eyes. She nodded.

"Yup. That's how it starts. Itching. Then it starts to spread. Some of the flakes enter through the nose and it starts growing in your lungs," She let out another puff of smoke. "And then you're a goner. Asphyxiated from the inside. A long, painful death."

One of the workers squeaked. She examined her nails. " But I think there's a deal to be struck here. We, of the favela, can help you, but it'll cost you."

Kidd grit his teeth, but Killer lunged forward, green fingers spread wide.

"How much?"

"You're trying to sell our rocks. 50% of the profits have to return to this favela, otherwise the god will be very upset."

Usopp nodded sagely. Kid snarled.

"There's no fucking-."

"Deal!" Killer turned to Kid as if daring him to challenge it. After a long stare-off, the latter groaned, running his face over his hands, and Law knew that they had won. Luffy gave a muted whoop, launching his fists in the air as the scene continued.

"This sounds like a transaction that requires a lawyer!" Vivi entered the scene, done up in a little business suit. "Allow me to offer my services. I'll type up a binding contract by tonight so both parties are sure of what their responsibilities are."

Kid narrowed his eyes, but before he could voice his suspicions, Rouge smoothly cut back in.

"Tell you what. I own a bar only an hour drive away from here. You boys get healed up, and I'll let you drink free for the night?"

At the words ' _drink free'_ the men perked up.

"You play some good jazz?" One of them asked.

"The best." Rouge said proudly. There was nothing Kid could do to stop the roared cheers that went up at her heads. They had him: hook, line and sinker. The man bowed his head as he followed Vivi down the hill, Garp close behind to oversee. Usopp and 'the afflicted' gathered in a circle. Aided by Luana, they slowly began the 'healing' process.

"So what is it?" Law asked when Rouge was close enough. "Lichen? Moss? Dyed baby powder?"

The woman glanced at him, fiddling with her cigarette lighter as she answered absent-mindedly,  "Oh, the curse? That's real."

"...What?"

"Yeah, Usopp's dad Yasopp was a  _ pajé. _ A shaman. He used to kill his enemies with it. If those men don't get help, they'll die."  She shrugged, as if to say  _ 'what can you do' _ , then left Law to stare at her retreating back wonderingly, Luffy crawling up his side.

All was safe in the favela. 

One way or another.

* * *

_"Toraooooo,"_ Luffy groaned. Law made a noise of discontent, flopping over to lay on his stomach. There was sand between his toes. The sun was a comfort rather than embers on his back. There the sound of children laughing and steady waves crashing in.  He would've been at total peace, if it weren't for Luffy.

"I'm hungry," The man said. "Feed me."

"You just ate."

"Not for food."

He stilled. He didn't have to look to see Luffy's shit-eating grin, nor to realize that there was the gentle touch of fingers skittering down his back.

"We're in public," Law deadpanned, swatting his hand away.

"Just one kiss!"

"No."

"C'mon. Please," With more strength than his gangly arms would imply, Luffy flipped him over. "One."

That pout was like kryptonite. Rolling his eyes, Law raised his head for  _ one (1!)  _ peck but Luffy grabbed him by his jaw and shoved his tongue down his throat.  Ace and Sabo whistled and cat-called because  _ of course _ they suddenly paid enough attention to see that.  Luffy broke away with a laugh, scrambling towards the shore with a wild scream as Law chased after him. 

The water was cool around their ankles, tide a gentle pull and push as he tugged Luffy into a headlock. They play-fought till exhaustion crashed over them, pushing them back against the sand of the beach, drenched in salt water and facing the sun.

Law was by no means sure about the future. But that moment, with Luffy at his side, quiet for a rare moment, everything seemed like it would be alright. Off in the distance, a street samba party played on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap folks!!! Thank you for all the support thus far! I hope you enjoyed this cute little AU!!

**Author's Note:**

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